What's In A Name
by gega.cai
Summary: Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world. Katherine Brewster centric, eventually Kate/John
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** What's In A Name**  
Author:** gega cai**  
Pairings: **Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John**  
Rating:** PG**  
Words: **1500+**  
Warnings:** Blood**  
Summary:** Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.**  
Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., and Michael Ferris (?)

**Author's Note:** This fic references some events from T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

**What's In A Name  
Part 1**

by gega cai

"What? What is it, Kate?" a voice called.

Kate's nose twitched at the smell of blood. Like so many times before, she ignored the shock of seeing the seriousness of the injury and began to work to stop the bleeding. She raised her head towards the voice, but her eyes remained on the wounded soldier who was now gripping her shoulder in protest. She could make out the static voices in the communication links around her. An aerial assault was re-approaching after disappearing into the night sky from its first sweep on them; she could hear the panic in their voice as the echoed sound of a hunter killer approached in the distance and buzzed in the ears of the soldiers.

"Kate?"

Kate looked away from the soldier to see the silhouette of a young man, crouched low against a curved trench, just ahead of her. He was featureless against a bright light as he caught his breath. Only his familiar figure outlined like a halo in the lit-up night sky gave away his identity. He let out a sigh of relief, she thought, at being acknowledged by her. His breath, highlighted by the bright search light behind him on the far side of the base, swirled above and around him. Kate did not answer him right away. She knew that he would not accept what she had to say.

The wounded soldier jerked and let out a guttural cough that sent a splatter of blood across Kate's right shoulder and cheek. Kate reacted before reopening her eyes and clenching her jaw in defiance. She spoke calmly, "Too much blood. I've got to stop the bleeding. You'll have to go without us, John."

John shifted his weight, an obvious gesture of annoyance at such a suggestion and spoke under his breath, "The hell you say..."

Kate furrowed her brow and shook her head at him.

"Givens! Help her. Grab someone to help you carry him," John yelled. His voice was lost as the sound of the aerial HK approached low. Now, instead of yelling, his voice hummed across the trench from the earpieces of the soldiers. The last thing Kate saw was the image of John Connor mouthing demands before the hiss and thumps of the earth being broken apart by the aerial HK's artillery exploding the ground between them.

* * *

The warm tickling sensation of the pain medication gave Kate her first indication that she must have been injured during the attack. That and she had no memory of how she got where she was. Her senses were dumb. Still, she tried to focus. The stench of lingering human perspiration and death had her imagining the unacceptable; a fate worse than death: imprisoned by Skynet.

The medication made it difficult to sit up or move at all. She sensed a blanket was covering her and gingerly fingered the fabric. Thick wool. A single tear swelled in her eye and fell down her temple into her auburn hair. This can't be Skynet. She was in a hospital with people.

"Hey --hey, it's Brewster! She's awake."

"Good. I'll send word. See how's she doing," a voice trailed off.

"Miss Brewster?" Kate could see the outline of a face as it peered down at her. She tried to lift her shoulders but her body protested. Suddenly, the room had a dimension; an up to it's down. Her head began to spin as it made sense of her surroundings. "Hey, hey...easy. Relax."

Kate swallowed hard and laid back closing her eyes to shut out the spinning room. "Where..."

"You're safe. Well, safe as can be. You're damn lucky, you know that? Inches from being blasted a part, they say."

"Survivors..."

"Only a few," the voice broke. "Connor carried you out of there himself. You got banged up a bit by shrapnel. Nothing too serious, though. You should recover in no time," the voice assured. Kate nodded and mouthed "Thank you" as she passed out from the injection.

* * *

John made quick work to have Kate transferred to his location once he heard her condition had improved. Only two weeks recovery and he already had her back in the battle it seemed. Inwardly, she was grateful to be returning to him so that she could get out of the hospital and away from the stolen glances and hushed whispers in her presence. Being Kate Brewster had its advantages. But, it was often a burden and tiresome.

Now, she rode in the open air in a fortified jeep. The sun was close to setting and she enjoyed the site of the earth lit up in a golden wash through the slats of the jeep. The driver yelled over the noise of the rusted Jeep's engine at Kate, "Just over the ridge," he pointed ahead, "We're almost there."

Before the jeep slid to a stop, men and women were already on the jeep opening the heavy doors for Kate and the driver to climb down. The driver had already been escorted away to be debriefed and prepare for his next route when Kate touched the ground. A man passed Kate and climbed into the back of the jeep and began handing miscellaneous crates to the others that crowded around her and the jeep. _Never a moment to lose_, she thought in her father's voice as she watched them. She imagined him smiling at her and taking some perverse enjoyment in his daughter living a life similar to his own.

"This way, Brewster!" a young soldier called. He jogged to meet her halfway from the barracks he appeared from. He looked annoyed and Kate understood why after he spoke, "You're limping? They said you were well."

"I'm sure Connor's insistence might have convinced them of that," Kate said with a credulous expression. The soldier smiled and nodded in agreement. John Connor wasn't as inspirational as he imagined he should be, but he had a way with getting things done.

"He's away. Recon. He's their favorite, you know," the soldier slid her arm around his shoulder to help carry her weight.

"He knows Skynet. He knows what to look for --umph," she sneered at the pain of her wounds stretching as they took a big step down to the entrance of the barracks. The soldier gave her an apologetic look and slid from under her arm to push aside the camouflaged netting, exposing the make-shift sliding door. The small view slat opened after two hard knocks and the soldier gave his number and rank before the door grinded open.

"Ma'am," a rugged man with a large, raised scar across his jaw said as he helped her across the threshold. Kate looked ahead and could see the outside of the barracks was misleading. The barracks clearly dipped down deep, under the rocky terrain of the desert floor. Soldiers in fatigues and combat gear mingled in large and small groups throughout. A few sat alone in quiet contemplation.

After a brief visit to the infirmary, she was led to a large open room with rows of cots. Looking above, Kate could see the blue-black night sky through the ventilation that reached the ground above.

Kate recognized John's things stacked neatly around a cot and saw that her things were waiting for her at the next cot over. He'd purposely stacked her medical books on the cot as a welcoming gesture. She sat beside the books, absently looking over the front cover of the one on top: _Mosby's EMT-Intermediate Textbook 1999, Third Edition_. It had seen better days. The hard cover's edges were aged with bent corners. It once had a bright red and orange cover, but the color had faded. A visible water stain had warped the spine and bottom-half of the book's pages and cover.

Kate didn't need the books anymore. She had them all memorized. John was better at letting go of things. He only had a few things from life before the bombs fell. His processions were mostly faded pictures, tapes of his mother, and, oddly enough, random music cassette tapes. Everything else was a necessity: weapons, rations, and first aid kits.

Kate had nothing of personal value. Nothing but medical books and magazines salvaged after the war. She felt silly for holding on to them. But, everything she knew or loved was gone. She had accepted Judgment Day and who John would be. In doing so, he was more grateful for her than he could ever express. He would never have to, of course.

Kate lowered the books to the floor and swung her feet onto the cot. She could feel the eyes on her. It made for a sleepless night knowing what they were thinking as she laid there fighting the throbbing pain. _Katherine Brewster: That military brat whose father helped destroy the world. The female fighter who appeared out of the ashes of Judgment Day with that half-crazed John Connor._

_There is never a dull moment when we're around_, Kate thought to herself. If only she knew the worst was yet to come.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** What's In A Name**  
Author:** gega cai**  
Pairings:** Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John**  
Rating:** PG-13**  
Words:** 1700+**  
Warnings:** Blood**  
Summary:** Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.**  
Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., John Brancato and Michael Ferris (?)

**Author's Note:** This fic references some events from T2, T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

_I would like to thank all of the readers for their feedback and, most of all, for reading. I have never received so much feedback for a fic I've written and I am very grateful. I must admit that it has me nervous and I find myself wanting to do the characters/story justice while completing a good Kate/John fic that readers will enjoy. I hope to do both!_

**What's In A Name  
Part 2**

by gega cai

A look of total fear shot up at Kate. "Oh, G-g... --help me!" he struggled to speak through the pain. "I wanna go home...I-" the soldier began to shake and his breath became rapid and shallow. His blood shot wide-eyes and rabid fear stared back at her in agony.

_Stop the bleeding, Kate. He's going into shock_. Her ears were ringing from the sound of gun fire and the cries of the wounded dying. _There's no time! --No, I can do this._

"Incoming!" a distant voice called out.

Kate ducked, covering the wounded boy with her tiny frame. A moment passed and Kate looked up, relieved that she was whole and not hit. Ignoring the desire to cry out in gratitude, she sat up to continue. Kate felt her clothes warm and clinging to her chest: the soldier's blood had soaked through; they were both drenched in blood and sweat. Uncontrollably, she let out a gasp at the amount of blood.

"Kate!" the soldier cried out as he gripped her wrist and looked up at her pitifully. His eyes begged for relief. His young face, dirty from days without bathing and jumping from one hole in the ground to the next, lit up from the explosions of the battle that continued around them. "Kate," he choked again, only this time it wasn't the soldier's voice or face looking back at her. Her father, General Brewster, winced in pain. The soldier was gone and Kate began to sob at the sight of her father lying before her on the battlefield. He was as she last saw him: wounded by a machine in his blood-covered uniform. She took him into her arms, squeezing too hard. But, she did not care.

"Daddy? Wh-"

"Katie," he swallowed, "Don't be afraid. I've never been afraid for my girl," he assured as he cupped her face and stroked her cheek with his thumb. The tears burned as they welled in her eyes.

"No, Daddy! Don't..." she pleaded as she buried her face into his shoulder.

"Kate? Come with me, Kate," John Connor called. She shook her head, but John called again. She looked up to see him reaching for her. The sounds of the battle were distant and muffled, but still there. Kate looked around confused; they were in her father's office now.

"He wanted me to take care of you, Kate," she heard John say.

The room began to shake and a thundering sound from outside alerted Kate to look out the office windows to see a hunter-killer incoming straight for their floor. There was no stopping it. Kate, clutching her father's body, sat wide-eyed and waited for the impact.

Instead, Kate awakened in a violent jerk. _A nightmare_. Her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room of cots. The room, along with her cot, was shaking and she could hear the distinct sound of incoming aircraft. Tiny pebbles and dirt tickled her face and fell in her hair. Looking up, she could see the lights of an aircraft fly by in the night sky through the ventilation on the ground above. For a moment, she laughed at herself for her mind allowing the approach of the aircraft to enter her dream like it did. Her smile faded as she started to wipe away the dirt and felt her cheeks wet with real tears. She had no time to wipe them away as soldiers began to enter the room.

Kate quickly turned on her wounded side so that her back was to John's cot. She cursed herself as the pain shot through her body. The clunking of booted steps filled the room and others around her began to stir awake from their deep sleep. She waited for his approach, but it never came.

Finally, the room calmed to whispers and the rustling of others to get comfortable in their cots. The pain in Kate's side had nearly subsided when she heard John approach. She laid still and breathed steady to feign sleep. She didn't have a chance to move the hair that fell in her face, which was tickling her nose.

She listened as John worked to remove his gear and weapons. He was careful not to be too loud. After a few moments of unaccountable noises from him, she heard him let out a deep sigh. He moved around her cot and knelt down so that he was at her level. She could sense him watching her sleep. He probably knows I'm faking, she thought.

To Kate's relief, he swept the lock of her hair from her face. She really wanted to be asleep to escape imagining what he must have thought when he saw her face. It was impossible that he could not see the trail of tears on her cheek. She felt the gentle pressure of his hand on her shoulder. He began to softly knead his thumb into her shoulder as if to say to himself, "There, John. She's okay."

Careful not to wake her, John rose to his feet and returned to his cot. She waited until he was asleep to rub the dirt from her face.

* * *

"Okay now, be still. There you go, good girl," Kate whispered to the German Shepard. She began to check and feel the dog over for any apparent illnesses or injuries. Her heartbeat was good and with the exception of being a few pounds underweight, she was healthy.

"Now, that wasn't so bad was it?" she smiled as she scratched the dog behind the ears.

The dog began to wag her tail and perked up, but not for Kate. Following the dog's line of sight, Kate saw John leaning in the entrance of the kennel. He was casually dressed in his favorite dark cargo pants, boots, gray undershirt, and faded green button up shirt, which he left unbuttoned. Typical down time wear for John that hinted at his (unusual) grunged youth in the Nineties. He seemed relaxed and genuinely happy to see Kate. They exchanged smiles.

"I thought I'd find you in here. I kind of wanted to be the one to tell you that they had animals here." He crossed to them and knelt down to greet the dog, who visibly favored John as she placed a paw on his thigh and wagged her tail faster than before.

Kate laughed at them, "It's been awhile. They're healthier than I expected." John nodded and playfully spoke to the dog as they both took turns petting her. It was nice to see him like this. Knowing the fate of everyone and trying to save them all made John a serious man. He chose to keep his history and understanding of Skynet a mystery since the first time he tried to explain himself got him nothing but annoyed looks and ridicule. "I have to earn their trust and loyalty. There's so much to be done, Kate," he had said.

They grew quiet in the kennel and John furrowed his brow at the silence. Kate knew that look.

"You found something."

John lowered his head in admission; whatever it was, it was serious. Kate stopped petting the dog and waited for John to speak.

"Kate...it's about Cyberdyne. If I had not dug as deep...as I wasn't supposed to, I wouldn't have found it-"

"Cyberdyne Systems?" she interrupted. "Wait, I don't understand. I thought you and your mother destroyed Cyberdyne. Skynet-," she looked away from him. John knew she felt guilt and it was difficult for her to talk about it. He ignored her discomfort and continued; she had to know.

"Cyberdyne wasn't destroyed," he began. "It still existed despite what we tried to do," he shook his head as if he were still in denial.

"Somehow, Cyberdyne Systems and Skynet became two separate areas of research and technology development. Skynet was always the software or intelligence behind it all. But, Cyberdyne is what was enforcing Skynet's development --and the war today, Kate. The files I found were very clear:_ Military patents and genetic research_."

"Both areas were top secret, but the genetic research was radical and only beginning to evolve when Judgment Day happened. They called it _Project Angel_. Skynet absorbed all information available and appears to still be continuing the work of someone named Dr. Serena Kogan."

Kate stared blankly at John. She was unsure if she should believe what she was hearing, "Cyberdyne..."

"Judgment Day was inevitable, Kate," he explained softly. He knew the weight of the words. "It would have happened with our without me trying to stop it or your father initiating Skynet going online. There was no stopping it."

Kate lowered her head and held back the tears. John had anticipated her response and quickly moved to take her into his arms, "I'm sorry, Kate. I couldn't stop it."

She covered her face as he held her. Relief. In some twisted, selfish way, Kate could not help but to take it as good news. But, as they let out their relief together, alone in the kennel, Kate felt ashamed. Deep down, a part of her blamed John for what had happened to her father and the world. If John and his mother had just accepted their fate and not intervene, Skynet wouldn't have fallen into her father's hands. It would have been someone else's shameful legacy. She knew better than to blame John and she struggled not to. He was a good person and, like Kate, only did what he thought was right with what knowledge they had against Skynet. She could not blame John Connor anymore.

"No, John," she pushed some distance between them. A single tear fell as she gripped his shoulders. "There's no one to blame. I know what you've done for all of us --what you _will_ do. I know you will stop it."

He held back his emotion, but she could see her words meant a lot for him to hear them. "We'll stop it together," he whispered with a serious nod.

He wiped her cheek dry with the cuff of his sleeve and winked with a subtle arrogance she had come to know. She gave him a weak smile in return, "I think he'd be proud of you, John."

"Yeah?" he asked incredulously. She shook her head at him knowingly and smiled as the German Shepard looked on with a tilted, curious expression.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** What's In A Name**  
Author:** gega cai**  
Pairings:** Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John**  
Rating:** PG-13**  
Words:** 2200+  
**Warnings:** Blood, Post battle injuries**  
Summary:** Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.**  
Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., John Brancato and Michael Ferris (?)

**Author's Note:** This fic references some events from T2, T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

**What's In A Name  
Part 3**

by gega cai

Kate patiently stared ahead as she stood half naked in the infirmary. Holding her folded shirt to her chest, she hid her discomfort as the resident physician inspected her healing wounds. The wounded soldier she had been attending to during the aerial attack had, unfortunately, taken the worst of the shelling from the HK. His body had been ripped a part, Kate figured, since she only received burns and near miss hits of the soldier's blown gear and shrapnel into her lower side and arms. Before, the wounds resembled clawed gashes to her side and something like carpet burns to her forearm and shoulder that she had instinctively held up to cover her face as the HK flew by. Now, the wounds were pink or scabbed over from healing --they itched like hell.

The physician, who simply wore faded cargo pants and a frayed, long sleeve henley shirt with a make-shift red cross arm band, raised to his feet and nodded for Kate to dress and sit on the gurney, "Healing nicely, Kate. You should be back to normal within a week. Though, I must admit I wouldn't mind you stay around here longer. You've been a big help," he smiled.

Kate blushed and knuckled her fist over her shirt at her side. The physician chuckled at her as she began to press her knuckle into the dressing of the wounds to relieve the itching.

"I'd like to stay too. You've taught me so much, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll be staying. I go where ever the war takes me," _and him_ she thought. The physician nodded, sighing as if he heard what she meant to say. Stepping away to place back the medicine, he spoke to her over his shoulder.

"Listen, get some rest tonight. There's talk about going into Skynet territory in the morning. They'll want able hands to take care of the wounded survivors when they return," he looked back at her with an expression of helplessness over the redundancy of their duty. She lowered her gaze before looking back with a smile and nod. She could see the exhaustion settle in his face as he must have imagined what the next day would be like. They stood in the silence for as long as she could tolerate it.

"Thank you. Have a good night," Kate said as she left the infirmary to escape the sudden feeling of guilt. This place could use Kate and they all knew it. _There's so much to be done, Kate_, the words echoed in her mind. John Connor wouldn't allow her to stay and everyone knew that; that was understood where ever they went.

Kate approached their cots to see John sitting on the edge of his with his back to her and his elbows resting on his knees. Sitting at her cot, she saw him going through pictures, which was rare --at least in front of so many people. He looked up at Kate sitting across from him, who was watching him with some curiosity. She raised an eyebrow playfully and he smiled. Holding up a picture for her to see, he shook his head in disbelief.

"Can you imagine?" he asked absently.

She took the picture and studied it: at a benched table in the middle of a bleak desert background, was young John Connor sitting across from his mother, Sarah Connor. His mother was young like Kate and John were now. Yet, she seemed out of place from everything. She was already built for a grim future of death and destruction, yet she was stuck in the past with the knowledge of what her son must do.

Neither of them were looking at the camera. Instead, little John, arms crossed over the table top, was looking down at the scattered parts of a gun that had been taken a part. Sarah was looking at her son with one arm extended across the table top, gesturing at the parts. The moment captured was Sarah instructing her son on one of his first lessons in life. Flipping the picture over showed the date: _Mexico 1992_

John was seven.

Kate handed back the picture, "No, I got the watered down version of that."

John noticed Kate rubbing her side as he slid the pictures back in their place among his things, "I've got some Aloe Vera, you know. Lemons help too."

"Thanks --when was the last time you saw a lemon?" she teased.

John smiled again and Kate took some satisfaction in seeing him like that. He had his moments when he wasn't John Connor but himself. Just John. She wondered if anyone else ever saw that side of him. Maybe his mother did or that machine he tried to forget about. John laid back on his cot, relaxing for the first time in several days. He had been busy and left Kate to wonder what he had been up to while she picked at the brains of the doctors.

"Medicinal," John said under his breath. He turned to Kate who had tilted her head, waiting for him to explain what he meant. "Useless now --all this information that seemed important. What good is it when nearly anything of use is gone?"

Kate stretched over her cot, lying on her stomach and faced him as John rolled to his side to face her. She didn't know what to say to him because he was right. He knew neither of them had any answers. They laid across from each other in silence, observing one another with a mutual understanding until something caught Kate's attention and she looked up, past John's head, to see a man watching them. The man, seeing he was caught intruding their privacy, tipped his head apologetically and turned in his cot to face the opposite side of the room. There was something familiar about him...

"Kate," John whispered.

"Hm?" she looked back at John.

"I have a window, three days from tomorrow," he began. "The files I found on Cyberdyne...there was a location in there that needs checking out. After tomorrow, we need to prepare to move out."

"Okay," she said automatically.

"We'll be back," John continued. "I like it here too, Kate."

* * *

Kate woke up to the sound of people rushing pass her and outside the room of cots. _A transport must have just returned_, she thought as she rubbed the sleep and dirt from her face. They were all hurrying to see if their loved ones had made it back. Kate laced up her boots, and ignoring the urgency that awaited her, pressed her side: no pain or discomfort. Sighing relief, she prepared herself as she made her way through the crowded tunnels to the infirmary.

"Kate! This one, here," a voice called as she appeared in the entrance way to the infirmary. She paused as a wall of stench hit her: the smell of blood, perspiration, and excretion filled the room. Kate hurried to the voice and found herself looking down at a bandaged man moaning. His wounds were already dressed and Kate looked up at the doctor confused.

"For now, I need you to tend to them," he motioned at a row of half a dozen already attended to. "The worst have yet to come in and we've got a few now that need immediate assistance before the others get here so our hands won't be tied up."

Just then, a man growled from the other end of the infirmary, knocking over a man and woman trying to hold him down. The doctor clapped a hand on Kate's shoulder in gratitude and rushed over to the thrashing patient.

Kate glanced over her patients, scanning them for John's face. _Not here; still out there_, she thought as she injected the moaning man with a sedative. He was the worst of the bunch with severe shrapnel wounds, but he'd live. The others, Kate observed, were calm and enjoying the down time. Kate approached the last patient, who was dozing softly despite the noise coming from the other end of the infirmary. He appeared to have a head wound along with his bandaged arm that rested across his chest. He must have heard her as he opened his eyes and looked up at her with some interest.

"Hi, there," she spoke softly. "My name is Kate-"

"I know who you are," his voice broke. He assured her with a smile.

"Yeah? Sure it's not your head wound talking?" she winked. She noted his vitals were good as he spoke.

"Just a scratch. Bullet pierced the helmet and grazed the meat. Just a little dizzy, that's all," he explained.

"What happened here?" she pointed to his arm.

"I got too close to the thing," he shrugged.

"Well, you're right. You'll be fine. We'll look after the wounds and keep them clean. Keep your distance next time," she smiled as she turned to join the doctors.

"Matt," he called out to her. Kate turned back at him.

"My name is Matt."

"A blood bath," John croaked at Kate as he was carried into the infirmary. Kate helped the soldiers position John on a gurney. Ignoring the doctor's attempt to squeeze between them, Kate unhooked John's holsters and unzipped his jacket to rip open his shirt. John winced at the pain she was causing him, but Kate knew that he was mostly protesting his favorite shirt being ruined. She shot him a glance that he easily read as_ Get over it, John_.

Kate took over attending John and spoke aloud to those around them, "Trauma to upper, right abdomen," she skimmed her hands over his blue-purple flesh. John stayed still as he watched her face for any warning or sign of a problem. His eyes involuntarily darted down to watch her fingers graze his bruised flesh. He quickly looked back at her face as she looked up at him with a questioning expression. He did his best to ignore the awkwardness of his slip until she spoke, assuring him she had not noticed, "Possible broken ribs --John? Can you feel that? I'm squeezing your hand."

He sighed relief and coupled it with an annoyed intake of air, "None of them had the stomach to put it back," he glanced at his shoulder. Kate smiled, taking some amusement in John's situation.

"That's very funny, Kate," John shook his head.

"I'm sorry," she pulled hard and felt his bones pop in her fingertips. John squeezed his eyes shut at the pain. "T-1?" she asked.

John opened his eyes and nodded, "Several --Any news from command?"

"We're the last to know anything. Feel that?" she squeezed his hand. John nodded again and squeezed back. "Good. You don't have to risk your limbs to override them, John."

"You don't have to believe me, Kate. I have nearly half of the men overriding those machines using their own guns on the other T-1s. One kid got his jacket hung up on one and I couldn't just leave him on that thing. It took a big swing at me," John motioned with his good arm at his side and shoulder.

"I can see. I don't know if they're broken or fractured," Kate said pushing his jacket and shirt aside to expose his injured chest and side.

"It's nothing. Just glad to have my arm back," John said as he massaged his relocated shoulder.

Kate, satisfied he would live despite his heroics, left him to be bandaged. She felt her blood pressure rise as she began to attend another patient. The girl soldier cried out "Hey!" as Kate knotted the dressing of her wound too tight in frustration. Kate looked down apologetically and wiped away the beaded sweat on her forehead as she stepped away to regain her nerves. It had been a long day.

"Hey, Kate," a voice called. Looking over her shoulder, Kate saw the wounded soldier from earlier: Matt, she remembered. She crossed to him, ignoring John's soft call of her name, and busied herself with Matt's updated recovery paperwork.

"Long day?" Matt asked sincerely.

"They only get longer..." she exhaled. "Looks like you'll be back in action in no time, Matt." Kate could feel John watching them, waiting for her to return to his side. She ignored the urge to go to him.

"Your friend seems hurt," Matt glanced behind Kate at John.

"Trying to be a hero gets you hurt," she cautioned. She did not know why John's actions were bothering her all of a sudden. It was just the way John was and would always be. The man could never think of acting any differently. Kate and John could thank Sarah Connor for that; Kate huffed at the thought.

"Known him for a long time, huh? How did you two meet?"

"Coincidence is what I keep telling myself," Kate laughed. "No, he saved my life and I found myself returning the favor. We survived Judgment Day together and I'm sure the rest is history or gossip depending on who you hear it from," Kate looked at Matt suspiciously, waiting for a look of guilt.

"So, it's true?"

"Which truth?"

"Surviving Judgment Day together... They say you two knew about the bombs and were underground before anything was ever launched," Matt explained in a low voice.

"I didn't know anything."

"Are you two...?" Matt quickly glanced at John and back at Kate.

Kate looked back at John to see him watching the two of them closely. His gaze focused on Kate for a moment: intense and questioning. Then, John foolishly swung off the gurney and left the infirmary without a word or second glance in her direction. Kate watched him limp out of sight into the darkened tunnels.

"Take it easy, all right?" she bade Matt with a raised eyebrow before leaving him to wonder about her and John's relationship as she did so often.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** What's In A Name**  
Author:** gega cai**  
Pairings:** Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John**  
Rating:** PG**  
Words:** 2300+**  
Warnings:** Language**  
Summary:** Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.**  
Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., John Brancato and Michael Ferris (?)

**Author's Note:** This fic references some events from T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

_Thank you to all the readers of this fic! I appreciate the comments and reviews!_

**What's In A Name  
Part 4**

by gega cai

The large room of rowed cots was eerily calm and full of hushed conversations. Kate observed from her cot as people lazily shifted in their own. Others came in and out of the room as quietly as possible to allow the exhausted men and women who survived the battle the day before to rest. It was not difficult for them to do so, as they were all consumed from the emotional and physical drain of their efforts. Unfortunately, their deep sleep had been interrupted as it began to rain in the middle of the night, almost as if the weather changed to reflect the amassed emotions of the camp.

Kate sat cross-legged and hunched over a textbook in her lap as she ate her ration. She could not sleep even though the intermittent beat of the light rain made her eyes heavy and her mind slip into her memories. She was thinking of her family's first pet, a dark-chocolate Labrador Retriever, as she skimmed a paragraph. She bit her lip in vain. Inactivity was unacceptable as it always led to thoughts that could serve no purpose in this future: this was one thing John had taught her at Crystal Peak.

She rubbed her temples and pushed backed an auburn lock of her hair (which had annoyingly curled and frizzed from the humidity) in an effort to occupy herself and push back the memories of the happiness the dog had given her. He was her constant companion despite all the friendships that came and went as her father moved the family from one military base to another. Kate remembered the helpless expression of her father as he tried to explain that her friend was gone. She could never accept that nothing could be done. _They didn't try hard enough_.

"Hey --what are you doing sitting here all alone?" a voice called out, breaking her thoughts.

Kate looked up to see her patient, Matt, approaching. He shook his lightly bandaged head before she could answer, "Yeah, I can't sleep either-" a sudden hush from the other side of the room interrupted him. His eyes grew wide in a feigned expression of embarrassment. He nodded to the room's exit and waved for her to get up, "C'mon. Let's get out of here," he whispered.

"Oh, uh," she started. Matt shot her a disgruntled look and it caught her by surprise at the familiarity of it --someone from her past? A memory or feeling she couldn't place yet. Kate slid the book from her lap and swung her feet to the floor. Matt stood above her, waiting as she laced up her boots.

* * *

"Ever been down this way before?" Matt asked as they ducked into a long, enforced underpass. Kate shook her head as he offered his hand to help her step down. She was careful not to bump his injured arm as she gained her footing and looked up to see an unexpected cavern at the end of the underpass. Kate followed Matt's lead as they descended down to the floor level of the cavern, where many groups of people mingled around fires. The ceiling was several feet above with large, grated openings that allowed in sunlight and air. There were also smaller grated slits in the wall at eye level throughout the cavern; Kate could hear the light thundering and rain outside through the them.

To her amazement, Kate looked over and saw a small row of tented merchants --a market, on the far side of the cavern. It did look pitiful, but she had not seen anything like it in such a long time. Unlike the room of cots, the cavern was full of social chatter and children laughing at the entertainment of an older child telling a story around a fire pit. Kate followed Matt as he led her to a small group of soldiers. They were all laughing hard, and loudly as Kate approached behind Matt.

"And this asshole!" a soldier exclaimed as Matt entered the group. Matt looked around and behind himself as if to look for the so-called asshole. Kate could only smile awkwardly as the soldiers laughed again at his supposed innocent reaction.

"Head-butting a machine isn't the best-" a female soldier began to tease.

"Aw, c'mon! The thing snuck up on me. I turn around and it's beady eye is looking down at me. I could already smell the gun powder when it tried to take a swing at me!" Matt argued, shrugging his shoulders.

"So, what does he do? He tries to bear hug it and give it a kiss!" a soldier cried out. Matt shot an incredulous glance at Kate as the others shook their heads or bent over, laughing. She playfully raised questionable eyebrow at him and the soldiers cried out again in amusement.

"There's no way a T-1 could sneak up on anyone. They're a loud, clumsy, rolling nightmare. You were just off guard, Matt," one said as the laughter died down. They all nodded in agreement.

"T-1's are nothing to worry about if what Connor says is true," another added.

"Aw, man! Don't listen to that, kid! He'll fill your head with the devil if it got you to fight to your death," Kate heard one of them say.

"Yeah, but...what if he's right? He hasn't been wrong so far. He say's they'll get worse. Skynet could get bigger and they'll stalk us down and kill us one by one if we let 'em..." another whispered.

"I believe him," Matt announced. They all looked at him, some nodding, some not convinced.

"I bet she knows all about it, huh?" a tall man called out, stepping towards Matt and Kate. He was lean, still dirty from the battle, and from what Kate could tell, angry as hell --angry at this life. Her eyes rose from the sight of his gritty, clenched fists at his sides up to his piercing glare. John Connor speaking about everything only getting worse was probably something he'd rather not hear. Kate showed no fear or insult at the accusation. She stared up at him and said nothing.

"Relax, Benton," Matt said through his teeth. "We're leaving, all right? Catch up with you all later," Matt turned to Kate as she nodded bye to the soldiers. Benton huffed at her goodbye and turned his back, knocking his shoulder into the others as he walked away.

"His family survived Judgment Day, but the machines killed them all," Matt tried to explain as they neared the small market. Kate stared ahead, studying the detail of a tattered tarp that covered one of the trader's stand. As a whole, it was intact and served its purpose, but it was thin, overused, and the fringe showed signs of a rough life, not unlike so many of the people in this place.

"No, I understand. He and I are a lot alike than you would expect. We've all had our losses and it can be easy to blame another," Kate sighed.

A pink, pearlized oval pendant caught her eye among the junk on display. She stepped up, and plucked the pendant to get a better look at it. The small, floral detailed pattern of apple blossoms brought a smile to her weary face. She lifted the pendant for Matt to see and asked forthright, "Where do they get all this stuff?"

"From us, mostly --the soldiers I mean. We go wherever they send us off to and a lot of times there are things left behind, y'know? This market is here every once in awhile, usually after we've come back and we've traded them what we found."

Kate returned the pendant and moved on, Matt following behind her. Fatigue was finally setting in and her eyes grew even heavier than before. She was looking through a stand of stacked books when Matt tapped her on the shoulder, "Over here," he nodded. Hastily, she traded for a book and caught up with Matt, who was sitting against a wall in front of a well lit fire pit.

"Found something?" he asked as she sat beside him. She nodded and showed him the faded cover that read: _A C llec ion of Short S ories_

"Short stories are good to read when time is borrowed," Kate explained. She looked away from an approving Matt to see John approaching the small market across the cavern. He had the dog from the kennel obediently following him at his side. She watched as many people hid their curious looks and whispers as he passed them. It never failed: he stood out like a sore thumb. Kate was convinced it wasn't because he fueled their curiosity with his tales of Skynet becoming something more feared than it was now, but that he simply was a man that engaged people without trying. He carried himself differently from all of them. _Because you were meant for this. You are the example that they will follow_, Kate thought to herself. She watched John lift and inspect a weapon, nodding at the trader who likely spoke no truth about what the weapon could do.

"What's it like with him?" Matt asked after noticing Kate found John in the crowd.

"What's what like?"

"You two have known each other for a long time. Is he always so intense?"

"Mostly. He has a lot on his mind," she lowered her gaze. _There's so much to be done, Kate_, his voice always steady in her mind. He was right. Kate had seen the future of Skynet in their past: the day the bombs fell and the day she, no, everyone lost everything.

"I haven't known him that long, but I know him well. I mean, there's nothing complicated about him: he has few interest and they all have to do with defeating Skynet. If you get that about him, then you get John Connor --_you_ know that, though," Kate smirked.

"They make it sound like you two appeared out of nowhere-" Matt shrugged.

"No, we were around," Kate began. "We had regular communication outside Crystal Peak. We figured after three years, the nuclear fall out would be nearly gone and wouldn't affect us too badly. That, and I felt ready to leave. _More than ready_ to leave that place," Kate huffed, "--I'm not sure what his secret was to not losing his mind down there. It was a struggle for me. He managed to keep me busy with what to expect when we got out."

"Yeah, you were very fortunate," Matt sighed as he watched John. "You missed the worst of it. It was hard to watch those that survived Judgment Day only to die painful deaths from the burns or the radiation. You don't meet many of those that survived the blasts zones these days," Matt paused and returned his gaze at Kate. "Doesn't sound like it was so bad down there, after all."

"You know, he feels guilty about it. We wanted to do more," Kate whispered.

They shared an awkward moment of silence and Kate knew what his next question would be: "How does he know?"

Kate paused. A tricky question with an answer that even she had to struggle to understand. "His mother knew," Kate's voice broke. "She taught him to fight and prepared him. I don't know how she knew," Kate lied, "but, she was convincing. A lot of it has been very convincing..." her voice trailed.

"And you went with him?" Matt pushed.

"Yes. In the end, I went with him." _We all will, someday_.

"They say he had help. He knew something, maybe he knew it was going to happen from an insider. Some say he knew because of your father..." Matt averted his eyes to avoid her reaction to such an accusation.

"My father knew nothing. John tried to stop it, but it was too late."

Katie...

Ignoring the voice of her father, Kate turned to look back at John, who was now kneeling on one knee, petting the dog. A curious little girl had approached them and she was being shy.

"It's difficult to think about sometimes. I can only imagine how he..." Kate stopped.

"I can see it in you," Matt whispered.

"What are you talking about?"

"The conflict in you --over him," Matt nodded in John's direction. She turned to see that John had noticed them sitting together. His face was cool, but she could see that he was gripping dog's collar at the sight of them. John gave his best, friendly nod to them before rising to join a small group of soldiers that had sought him out in the cavern. Kate's sneaking suspicion interrupted her feelings of guilt as John acted uninterested in her new friendship.

"I remember..." Kate looked back at Matt. "That was you. That night...that was you eavesdropping on our conversation. I remember you now."

"I'm sorry," Matt spoke softly. "He came in here with his talk about Skynet and machines. There were so many rumors. I just... --I believe him and don't understand why," he explained.

"No, I get it," Kate sighed, leaning her head back against wall. "But, I can't tell you why or how he knows these things."

Matt nodded, "Don't worry. I think I get it now too," he paused, "--I'm going with you two tomorrow. I'm with the small team he got together to go with you to wherever it is you're going."

Kate shook her had at the simplicity of his decision, "It's going to be risky, Matt. Going inside Skynet territory is far more dangerous than an outpost."

Matt stood up, noticing her tired, heavy expression, "Well, Brewster. It sounds like you're the one who needs a little more faith. Let's head back and you can tell me all about what to expect," he smiled.


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** What's In A Name**  
Author:** gega cai**  
Pairings:** Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John**  
Rating:** PG**  
Words:** 3500+**  
Warnings:** Language**  
Summary:** Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.**  
Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., John Brancato and Michael Ferris (?)

**Author's Note:** This fic references some events from T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

_T3 fans may recognize the names of the fighters and the base used in this chapter, which were taken directly from the film *wink*_

**What's In A Name  
Part 5**

by gega cai

"Kate?" she heard John call after her from behind. She stopped at the entrance of the infirmary and turned to wait for him to catch up to her.

"Come on in. I'm just getting supplies for us," she explained, pushing the rolled sleeves of her jacket to her elbows. She removed her leather shoulder bag and placed it on a low-lit counter top. John crossed to her, stepping up beside her as she lifted the bag's leather flap and recounted the inventory of their personal medical supplies.

"I thought we had enough?" John asked.

"Enough for you and I, maybe three of us; I got a glimpse of your group this morning. There are a lot more than..." she reached up, straining to balance on her toes, for a large brown bottle on a top shelf. John naturally reached and grabbed it for her, handing it over with an understanding nod for the need of more supplies. "You still have those bottles of alcohol?" she asked.

"Yeah," John answered. Together, they worked to fill the leather bag. They were nearly done when John broke the silence, "How're your wounds? Are you alright to do this?"

Kate turned to him and saw the concern in his eyes. She nodded with a raised brow, "Better than you, I'm sure. Let me check yours."

"That's all right, I'm fine," he said.

"Let me see, John," she demanded. She was already un-tucking his shirt before he could protest. He took in a deep breath and sighed heavy in defeat as she began to unbutton his shirt.

He took advantage of the moment and spoke to her in a low voice, "I'm nervous."

"Me too," she looked up at him. "Try not to worry. Skynet may not be prepared for a half-crazed man breaching their territory. No one has done it before, anyway," she teased. Her face grew serious as she pushed apart his button-up shirt and lifted his discolored undershirt. John watched as she studied his chest and abdomen. She looked up at him in relief; his chest was a textbook-perfect sight of healing brown and yellow bruising. She began to press into his ribs, "Any pain? --looks like they weren't broken."

"Only a little discomfort from you pushing my bruises, thanks," he mocked gratitude. Kate adjusted his undershirt and button-up shirt. "You don't have to do this," he offered in a serious tone.

"John, you know I couldn't stand for you to have all the fun," she joked. She took a step back and faced him again. Ignoring his expression, she spoke solemnly, "If we're going to do this...we go all the way. We can't let Skynet get away with what it did. We stop it --that's what _they_ said, right? --Then, we will," Kate asserted. She turned away from him, grabbing the leather bag and slung it over her shoulder. If it were years ago, she would have laughed at herself for speaking this way and been offended at their situation. But now there was nothing but absolution in her voice and she knew that John only offered her to stay behind because he was afraid of her getting hurt again.

He just had to get over it.

* * *

The fortified truck jostled its passengers from side to side as the driver cut a path through the desolated landscape. Random rays of the setting sun lit up the inside of the armored bed of the truck through the view slats and bullet holes. Kate lowered her helmet-mounted night vision goggles, peered through them for a moment to check their functioning, and pushed them back. It was a habit of hers to check and double check her equipment en route: it was her way of calming her nerves, or so John had said years ago when he observed her ritual. In her ear, she could hear John's voice as he spoke to the team via their telecommunication ear-links. His voice crackled and hissed as he explained, once more, their objective and that they were not to deviate from the mission. They had to be back in less than 12 hours or they would be considered AWOL and presumed dead. _No rescue parties in Skynet territory_, Kate thought.

Kate looked around at the group that John had organized. Before she met them, John explained to Kate that they could be trusted and she knew it to be true by the look in all their eyes when they looked at John and took his command as gospel. There were seven of them total, including Kate and John. The team had quickly greeted her as John's second in command, but she could see they studied her for her worth as she suited up and armed herself in front of them.

"I think you may be dangerous with those, Brewster," Matt teased as he watched her check chambers and magazines. She easily loaded and aimed weapons as if it were second nature. She got a few chuckles when she traded one of John's guns in preference to one that had been given to her. Her quick understanding and ability to enforce John's command by explanation and suggestion impressed them even more.

Now, they were all crammed into the back of a modified truck for transport across a devastated Southern California. Kate ignored the smell of perspiration and the nervous bouncing of someone's knee as she checked her holstered gun and tightened the straps across her chest and waist that held her medical supply bag on her back. When Kate found that she had everything on her checked, she glanced around for a mental inventory of what everyone else had.

Beside her, nearest the front cab of the vehicle, sat Matt. On her left, nearest the back exit of the vehicle sat Fritz, a lean militant-type. Across from Fritz sat John, who was speaking through his mouthpiece as he watched the sun set outside the view-slits of the back doors. Fritz's jowl clenched as John spoke, reminding everyone the importance of the mission despite what command would say.

Beside John and in front of Kate was the youngest in their group, Simon, who Kate noticed was just shy of being completely devoted to John as a father figure. Simon's light-grey eyes pierced through the intensity and de-saturated earth tones of the scene around them. A long, chained necklace with small fragments of destroyed machines hung from his neck as a token of his (recent) feats against Skynet. Nervously, Simon fingered the chain of the necklace. Kate couldn't help but study his young fingers and let her mind wonder, for just a moment, what his life might have been like if there hadn't been Judgment Day.

The only other female in their group, Sharlene, sat by Simon --she was hardly bigger than Simon and probably only a year or two older, Kate figured. Sharlene placed an ebony, gloved hand on Simon's bouncing knee to make him stop and looked across at Kate with a patient wink.

Their driver was an older, big man named Vince Forcier. He rarely spoke, but like John, he had skills and interest in technology and machines. Kate had noticed that Vince shadowed John as a protective, yet distant guardian. John seemed to be the only person that Vince could find himself in a deep conversation about their interest. Kate could appreciate their friendship as it gave her some relief in seeing John relaxed and able to relate to someone other than herself.

It was Vince's low and gruff voice that cracked in their ears and set them on the edge of their seats, "Target in site. Skynet territory on the horizon."

Kate felt John's stare and she turned to give him a reassuring smile. He motioned with two fingers, pointing to his eyes and then hers, for her not to leave his sight. In an added, single motion, he signaled for them all to keep close and watch for his command once they were in position. As they all nodded in unison, Kate felt a tug on her sleeve: it was Matt. He covered his mouthpiece and spoke loudly over the sound of the engine so that she could hear him, "I didn't get a chance to give this to you," he dug in his front pocket and lifted a clothed-wrapped item. "It's for luck, I guess," he shrugged and handed it to her.

She took it and unfolded the cloth to see the small, pearlized pendant from the market. Uncontrollably, she blushed and nodded to him in gratitude. She pocketed the pendant and avoided looking at John to see his reaction.

There was a beat and suddenly they all braced the interior as the truck slid to a stop on the scorched, dirt floor. Fritz and John flew open the vehicle's back doors, and in pairs, the six of them exited the back of the truck. The moment her boot hit the dirt ground, a rush of adrenalin hit Kate and only the sound of John's voice in her ear made any sense through her buzzing senses. She ducked down, nearly missing getting tangled in the netted camouflage Vince was tossing over the vehicle.

They all rushed to their first checkpoint along a raised ridge in the Californian landscape. Kate, with Vince close behind, had made it to the check point first, as she was not carrying as much weight as the others. Vince, who was a lot taller and heavier than the rest of them, hit the ground hard as he took cover alongside Kate.

"Sure you're not a machine, Vince?" she swallowed, trying to catch her breath. He did not understand, but smiled at her apparent compliment. Some feet away, she watched as John, Simon, and Matt hit the ground for cover. John shot her an amused glance at what he heard over the com-link. Lets hope for no infiltrators for awhile, Kate, his expression seemed to say to her.

Behind Vince, Fritz and Sharlene joined them. The sky had turned rich blue as the sun disappeared on the horizon. One by one, they each peered over their cover at their target: a weathered building with a tall antenna reaching into the dark sky some yards ahead of them. It had once been a military radio station. A watch tower had been erected a short distance away from it by survivors after Judgment Day. No signs of life now, though; it appeared vacant.

"After Judgment Day, a group of surviving civilians and low level military personnel took it over and it served as an outpost for what they assumed was the American Military," Kate recalled John saying in their briefing before they left.

"They didn't know they were communicating with Skynet instead. As you all know, there was a lot of confusion about what was happening and these poor souls thought the military was still functioning," John had continued.

"For whatever reasons, Skynet finally found it expendable and only a few survived the attack. A year and a half ago, the outpost was re-acquired by resistance fighters but there has been no contact from the outpost for several months. It is assumed it has been attacked and now considered in Skynet territory since the enemy border was only a few miles away," John had explained.

Now, they all looked upon the outpost. To Kate, it seemed deserted, not attacked. John's voice cracked in their ears, "Approach with extreme caution. Simon and Matt with me --the rest of you with Kate to the tower from the Southeast." They all watched John signal to go. With their riffles in hand, they all followed his lead as he leapt to his feet and charged to the radio station before them. Yet, John lingered behind for a moment; Kate looked over and their eyes met as he stared back at her. His hand had risen to the vertical strap over his shoulder where his com-link transmitter was attached. Kate tore away from his stare as she led her team to the tower. She reached for her transmitter and switched over to the channel they shared privately.

"Kate," his breath panted as he ran hard to the opposite side of the outpost's perimeter. "Kate," he said again, waiting for her to switch over and respond.

"Go ahead," her voice shook from her running equally hard.

"No heroics. I want to hear your voice on the main channel if we do not have a clear visual of one anothe-," his voice cut off from him quickly switching back to the main channel to avoid dead air of his command; his voice was already raspy. Kate switched over to hear him in mid-command, "--and rendezvous at checkpoint four."

Kate lunged hard and hit the side of a fallen road sign for cover. Her team quickly joined her and she allowed them a moment to catch their breath.

"Alright, Fritz: keep your eyes out for in-coming HKs. Sharlene, stay with me. Vince, you'll be our look out on the ground. Stay as low as possible. You know the deal: if they don't pick up movement, they won't see us," Kate motioned to her team. They quickly made their way to the tower. Kate was impressed by the efficiency of the team under her command. John must have also been making good time, as the only sounds heard were the low, static breathing of each other in their ears.

Vince crouched at the jutted corner of the tower and signaled that all was clear. Fritz readily nodded the same: no sign of the enemy above. Sharlene followed Kate as they passed Vince, side-stepping along the wall of the tower to the entrance.

"Entering check point three," Kate announced in a hush whisper over the com-link. She heard John's heavy exhale in her ear as she signaled to Vince. Sharlene waited at the entrance as Kate lowered her night vision goggles and stepped inside, aiming her rifle and light into the dark room at the base of the tower. Kate could feel her pulse pounding in her throat and head as she scanned the room.

To the immediate right, inside the room, were panels and control boards --most likely radar and radio equipment that had once been salvaged and used by the survivors. Kate noted the dust and apparent abandonment of the tower's equipment. Even the chairs were dust-covered and spider webs hung from the armrests. On the other side of the tower were the stairs that led up to the tower's observation deck. Under the stairs were a small row of rusted lockers; three of the five lockers were open.

"Kate?" she heard John say. Her instincts told her not to answer, not to make a sound; anything could be behind the closed lockers...waiting. Freeing one hand from her grip on her rifle, Kate pulled open the door of a closed locker. _Nothing_. Quickly, she did the same to the last locker. Again, nothing.

"Nothing at the bottom. Sharlene, cover me at the foot of the stairs. I'm going up," Kate said.

Sharlene stepped inside, eagerly aiming her rifle and light around the room. Kate felt the pressure of Sharlene's back on hers and took her cue to go upstairs. She turned off her search light in case it forewarned her approach to anything waiting upstairs. Relying on the visibility of night vision, Kate slowly ascended the steps. At the top waited the silent view of the night sky through large, dirt-stained windows. Surprisingly, there was no equipment at the top except for a device that appeared to be connected to part of the equipment at the base of the tower.

"Nothing. The tower is empty and no sign of being online," she spoke as she joined Sharlene at the bottom of the steps.

"On to checkpoint four," John simply stated. Sharlene quickly exited the tower to join Vince as Kate followed behind.

Fritz and Sharlene went ahead to the radio station, as Kate fell behind to cover their rendezvous. Vince, almost like an extension of John, stayed back with her. Cautiously, Kate and Vince crept up and found cover behind a flattened Oldsmobile just outside the radio station. Kate, crouched with her rifle ready, craned her head around the back-end of the vehicle to see John backed up against the outside wall of the station, waiting at the side of the entrance nearest the door handle. Looking to his immediate right along the outside wall, he saw Fritz give the O.K. that the skies were clear. He turned to his left and looked out; Kate followed his line of sight to see Simon (flat on his belly) signaling behind a large, semi-melted wheel that no movement could be seen inside from his viewpoint.

Kate looked away from Simon, back at John. He was staring straight ahead, past both Simon and herself. Kate wondered what he was thinking of at that moment...

As quickly as he lost himself in a thought, he shook it and nodded at Kate that he was going in.

"When I give the O.K., Kate and Vince join me inside," John's voice cracked in their ears. Without further hesitation, he faced the door and kicked it in, aiming his rifle inside. Slowly, he disappeared inside the radio station.

Kate impatiently adjusted her weight from one foot to the other as she stared at the open door through her night vision goggles. No movement and she wasn't entirely sure it was John's breathing she was hearing on the com-link. She remembered what John had taught her: she fought the panicky feeling creeping over her.

"All clear," John's voice broke the silence. With John's command, Kate and Vince quickly joined him inside.

"This way," she heard John say in the darkness. Kate adjusted her night vision so that the room was more detailed: it had gotten pitch-black suddenly. The room brightened and Kate could see Vince was already beside John. She followed them, their hunched backsides weaving through the room and into a short hallway ahead of her. John pointed to an ajar door. Vince, without warning, kicked it open, almost knocking it from the hinges.

Inside, Kate could see that it was the broadcasting room. It looked almost identical to the inside of the tower's base. Yet, there were no stairs or lockers. Instead, there were rusted chairs, panels, and several tall filing cabinets that took up the length of the room's back wall. John was already going through a cabinet as Kate looked over the room.

"Look for a file under CTSP-587...in a green or grey folder," John said. Kate and Vince joined John in going through cabinets and flipping through file folders. Every few minutes, Kate could hear John make an examinant sound at what he was finding. Finally, Vince pulled a pale green-colored file and handed it to John.

"What is it, John?" Kate asked.

"Something Skynet overlooked or forgot to destroy," John answered as he quickly went through his cargo pants pockets and removed a small device and a larger one that Kate recognized as a compact computer John had restored. Using the smaller device, he scanned the contents of folder's pages as digital data into the small computer.

"Leave it to Skynet to ignore the hard copies..." John said to himself. Kate could see a small smirk on Vince's face in response. "Vince, continue this," John handed him the scanner and folder. John knelt to the floor and picked up a small stack of folders he had personally selected.

"I can fit some of these in there," John said aloud. Vince had finished scanning the last page and returned the scanner to John. Through reading what he was scanning, Vince saw the importance of the documents and handed the folder labeled CTSP-587 to Kate. Looking down at the folder and back at Vince, she shook her head curiously. She flipped to a random page in the folder and saw what was there: one of many pages detailing coordinates and inventory of stock-piled American military weapons. Pages and pages worth of artillery that the human resistance needed desperately. Kate found it difficult to hold back the emotion of what this could mean.

"I couldn't believe it either," she heard John say. Looking up, she saw him handing folders to Vince and looking at her as the realization hit. He pocketed the scanner and the computer and stepped closer to her.

"Skynet knows?" she asked in a low voice.

"Deep down in all that data, yes. It just didn't..." John's voice faded. He took the folder from Kate and stuck it down the front of his shirt, "Anyway, Montana confirmed it."

"Montana Civil Defense?" Kate asked absently; she understood now.

"That's right."

"We should get going," Vince's deep voice urged.

"Let's go," John agreed. John and Vince exited before her. Kate heard John's voice commanding ahead of her in the hall and echo in her ear as she followed behind.

Yet, something caught her eye. Kate knew better than to hesitate and kept moving. Just as she exited the broadcasting room, she looked back and saw it in the darkness. A single, low-lit blinking light on the far end of the panel board. _Oh, shit!_

"John!" she cried into the com-link.


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:** What's In A Name**  
Author:** gega cai**  
Pairings:** Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John**  
Rating:** PG**  
Words:** 2200+**  
Warnings:** Language, violence, and some gore.**  
Summary:** Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.**  
Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., John Brancato and Michael Ferris (?)

**Author's Note:** This fic references some events from T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

_Just some technical FYI: HK Drones were the mini, prototype aerial HK-looking drones seen in T3 (the one shot down by Kate). The aerial HK I depict in this chapter (and the one mentioned in the first chapter) are the first aerial HKs to be manufactured by Skynet and not by humans (like the HK Drones were). They are not as large or efficient as the HKs seen in the future in T1, T2, and T3. I took careful consideration in that both present-day T3 and T4 machines were not the kind of Skynet machines seen in previous films; they are precursors to the plasma-firing machines in the latter-future war that are shown in flash backs/forwards in T1, T2, and T3._

_I like to think that plasma-powered weapons aren't developed until John Connor's Resistance has become formidable (years after Terminator Salvation) and Skynet takes their assault to the next level with better HKs, infiltrators, and fire power. I guess that makes the aerial HKs in this fic a part of my personal canon...I hope that doesn't confuse or offend anyone reading!_

**What's In A Name  
Part 6**

by gega cai

"John!" Kate cried into the com-link.

"Wha-" she heard him say before being cut off by Fritz's voice barking through the com-link: "Incoming! Two HKs Northeast!"

The radio station's walls shook violently; bits of the ceiling rained down and dust-covered framed pictures fell from the walls. They were under attack.

"--the hell out of here," Vince's voice yelled in Kate's ear. She could hear John calling out, but his voice was lost in the rumbling of the battle escalating around them. Yet, she could easily make out the sound of a large aerial Hunter-Killer outside; the hum of the engines were unmistakable. The upgraded aerial HK from the HK Drones (which were smaller and human-engineered) were larger, faster, and more lethal. Kate had seen many fighters ripped apart by their fire power.

A sudden collapse of the radio station's ceiling behind Kate sent her falling forward onto her right hip and shoulder. In vain, she kicked her feet out to get up and get moving. She knew better than to linger. The building was crumbling around her but she couldn't make out anything in the sudden darkness as her goggles had been pushed aside her face from the fall. Everything burned: her mouth and lungs were prickling from breathing in the debris; her eyes began to water from the dirt. She was blind and could hear nothing but the ringing from the explosion that had knocked her down. Clumsily, she got to her feet and ran hard to the only faint light she could make out in the dark, dusty air. Once outside the radio station, she was met with the sounds of artillery crisscrossing around her.

John's com-link voice broke through the ringing in her ears, "Fall back! Fall back! Take care of those--," a static hum interrupted his command and Kate only caught the end of it: "--and immediate evacuation! Vince! Help me cover them!"

Kate could hear the large, aerial HK a short distance away behind her. It was circling around, beyond the station and the tower, to sweep through them again with its fire power. Realizing the few moments she had to locate the others and join them, she re-adjusted her night vision goggles. She had spotted Vince, John, and Sharlene taking cover behind the rusted vehicle that had been blown several feet out, away from the station. No sign of Fritz, Matt, or Simon.

Ignoring her worry for the others, Kate ran to John. But a voice cried out for her to get down and she stumbled in mid-stride. Above her, a small HK Drone had dipped down and barely missed flying through her head. Confused, it stopped in mid air and looked ahead of itself for the missing target. Kate quickly got back to her feet and took aim at the back of the drone. Her finger had barely squeezed the trigger when a pair of arms wrapped around her and the weight of a man sent them both to the ground with a hard thud. Her aim was good: the confused drone had been hit twice and blew apart by the first rounds that escaped her rifle before a random spray of bullets escaped into the air. Kate watched as the broken drone fell to the ground. She turned to see Matt on top of her. Before she could ask what was going on, another drone flew above them from behind where she stood.

"Four drones now...and the big one," Matt explained as he looked out into the darkness with his night vision goggles. Kate looked out too and they both saw the glow of the large aerial HK's search lights coming in closer from behind the tower.

"Four drones? Where?" Kate asked rolling Matt off her.

"Simon and Fritz were taking care of two near the tower. There's another one around here. I think another is assisting the big HK --damn thing is flushing us out-" Matt winced. He grabbed his thigh and Kate could see he had been shot.

"How bad is it?"

"I dunno...hurts like hell," he gritted as he tightened the tourniquet.

"We gotta move. Looks like the purpose is to blow the station and us along with it...must have been some kind of sensor in there," Kate's voice trailed off in thought.

"Let's go, Kate," Matt hopped up on his good leg. The aerial HK's engines whirled in the distance and they could see dirt pick up and swirl in its approach. He gave the signal for her to go before him, he would cover her. She nodded and ran hard to the overturned car where John and the others waited. She ducked as bullets whizzed past her from the lone HK Drone closing in from above. Its aim was getting better and she could feel the pressure of the rounds passing close to her arms and shoulder. Through the blur of her night vision as she ran, she saw Vince pop up from the rusted car and easily take down the drone.

Kate was only a few yards away from the rusted car when a wash of bright light blinded her night vision. Kate stumbled and cursed aloud as she pushed back her goggles. A strong wind swept dirt in her face and pushed her backwards. She looked up, squinting to find the source of the light; everywhere she looked was nothing but a white brightness. She raised her arm to shield her eyes. _Is this it? A quick and sudden death... _Kate wondered.

"Kate!" she heard a voice cry out. Her head spun sharply, searching for the voice. But, something else caught her eye, high above. At first, she mistook it for an eye spot. It appeared to swim in the air. Kate made a face and realized what she was seeing. It was too late, the HK Drone had locked on and a shower of gunfire came down at her. She could hardly believe it: the scene played out in slow motion just like in movies.

_Movies... _Kate thought absently._ I remember..._

The thought of such a simple thing taken away by Skynet angered Kate and she glared back at the floating HK Drone in anger, her face twisted and determined. Instead of dodging the bullets, she raised her rifle and took aim. Her jaw locked and she squeezed the trigger.

Kate didn't have the pleasure of seeing her mark made as a spray of the drone's gunfire hit the ground around her. One round hit her rifle and sent it up and out of her hands. Another hit her square in the chest and she threw her head back, screaming at the assault. A third round hit the tip of her shoulder and a splatter of red blood spewed up and out from the wound like a wet firework as she fell back and crumpled to the ground. To the others watching, the moment had happened so fast; there was no time to get to her once the HK's search light found her and the drone shot her down.

Kate gasped, faced down in the dirt. She rolled on to her back from where she had fallen and felt the approach of the large HK.

"Kate? Kate!" Matt's voice yelled out over the sound of the machine's engine. Kate squinted in the bright light, searching. She could feel half her face was wet with blood and the other covered in dirt; she lifted her shoulders and carefully rolled to crouch up on one knee. It was Matt's voice she heard, but she looked for John's face. Suddenly, a hot, thick rush of air pushed by the large HK's engines passed through Kate. The aerial HK was just ahead of her now and she saw the newly upgraded turret arm swing and aim at her. A loud, mechanized boom roared from the machine. Kate finally heard John's voice call out to her: "Katie!"

Kate found him beyond the HK's search lights being held back by Vince. Desperately, John struggled to get free and go to her. But, someone else had come. Matt dropped and skidded on his knees to her side and in a single, swift motion, shoved her hard and sent her rolling out of the way of the HK's gunfire.

"Matt?" she mouthed as the ground exploded where she had fallen. Kate turned away as earth fell on her. "Matt!"

The dust cleared. Kate could see Matt's still body face down in the dirt a few feet away. She looked hard to see if he was breathing; she couldn't tell if he was alive or not. Kate tried to crawl to him, but her body would not go.

"Retreat! Get back to transport," she heard John command. She turned to his voice and saw him running hard in her direction, Vince close behind. He fell to his knees and gripped her good shoulder, pulling her close to him. His eyes were wild as he searched her face, "You were hit," his voice broke at the words spoken.

"I...," she shook her head. She was as baffled as he was. Instinctively, she grabbed at her chest where the pain was searing. Instead of blood, something hard pressed against the stinging in her chest. She searched with her fingers under the neck of her shirt and lifted a half-shattered bit of the pearlized pendant Matt have given her earlier. Both Kate and John's face paled at the realization. Impossible, she thought.

"Matt?" she yelled and leaned to look past John and saw Vince's back to them, crouched at Matt's side. Vince turned his head over his shoulder, his eyes lowered apologetically. He shook his head.

"No! No, damn you," Kate snapped as she struggled to get up.

"Kate," John started, but he let her go. Vince shook his head at her as she approached Matt's body.

"Move," she ordered.

"He's gone, Kate," Vince whispered as he stepped in her way.

"I have to see for myself," her voice shook as she struggled to get past him.

"Get back to transport, Vince," Kate heard John say behind her. Vince looked back at John, letting her go to Matt.

"I'm not leaving you behind, sir. The HK is circling back now and it'll waste us all if we don't get the hell out of here," Vince struggled to control his voice.

Kate ignored them as she sat on her knees beside Matt. His face was turned away from her, but she could see it was covered in blood like the rest of his body. Silently, she checked for a pulse. Nothing. Nothing but ringing in her ears and the distant hum of the approaching HK again. Still holding the the shattered piece of pendant, she looked down at it in her hand. Her chin began to tremble as she fought the tears. Instead of crying, she gave Matt a quiet goodbye in gratitude and stuffed the pendant into his blood-soaked pocket. Kate took his ammunition and weapon before standing above him, wiping a large streak of blood and dirt from her face. Kate turned and swung his riffle over her shoulder.

"Let's go," she yelled over the approaching HK. She watched the men stop and look at her. Vince nodded and shouted to her that the others were waiting at the truck and nodded to John who was looking passed him at Kate. Vince awkwardly stepped away, allowing them the moment.

The aerial HK was a few yards away from them, but quickly picked up speed and began firing as its search lights crisscrossed over them. Vince lunged to grab Kate and cover her, but they both paused to see John casually walk straight for the large, flying machine. He lifted his handgun and took aim, shooting two rounds at a time in the air at it. Incredibly, Kate watched as the large HK took the hits. Still, it hovered quickly to them. Kate felt she should run and take cover, but couldn't help but think John must know what the hell he was doing.

The ground around them began to break apart from the machine's gunfire. Vince and Kate watched as John fired two more rounds and heard an odd _tang-tang_ of the bullets hitting something different from the other hits. The large HK began to whine and its left engine smoke. Suddenly, the smoking engine exploded and all three ducked as the machine lost control and began to sail down towards them.

"Incoming!" John shouted and ran for Kate. Hastily, he grabbed her by the waist and picked her up off her feet as she tripped to catch up with his gate. Foolishly, she turned back to see the aerial HK struggling to maintain its horizon and speed. Instead, its powerful engines whirred and shifted in an effort to slow its decent into the ground below.

"John..." Kate swallowed. Her eyes widened at what she was seeing: the HK was going to fall right on top of them. Kate turned away as a heavy wall of hot air from the engines cut through them. John, without looking back, clutched onto her and lept several feet ahead; Kate felt the quake of the machine crashing down on them and she rolled hard as she hit the ground. Kate raised her arms to shield against the heavy shower of large parts flying past her.

Kate could hear the mechanized shifting of the large HK trying to do whatever the hell it is they do to keep going. _They never stop_ --that was what John had always repeated to get that across to anyone who thought otherwise. _John..._

_John?_

Kate opened her eyes to see that John had fallen on top of her. His face rested in the curve of her neck and she was relieved to feel his warm breath on her skin. His stubble lightly scratched her neck with each inhale and exhale. An embarrassing feeling came over her and she couldn't stop the goosebumps he was giving her.

"John?" she whispered.

He didn't respond. She looked past the rising and falling of his back to see the downed HK looming beside them. Kate couldn't help but to admire it; compared to all the military weapons and vehicles she was used to seeing and hearing about from her father, nothing could compare to what Skynet built. Though damaged and broken apart, the HK was still online. Part of its damaged engine tried to move and fire again. Somewhere, deep inside, a faint glowing shown through the cracks of the gaping panels. The light dimmed and danced, as if the machine was allocating the light source and energy.

John stirred and Kate felt him catch his breath as he regained consciousness. He let out a gruff moan against her and, as if to ignore the pain he was feeling, lifted his head to look at her.

"Kate?" his voice broke. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head at him. John, relieved, lowered his head and tried to shift his weight off her and onto his free elbow beside her.

Kate gripped his shoulder and pushed to help him, "No, you?"

"I'll live," he said, the corner of his mouth lifted. Kate, ignoring his attempt to not alarm her, pushed more space between them and began to palm his torso. A thick, warm wetness soaked her hand. She brought her hand out to see it covered in dark blood through her night vision.

"Oh, my G... --John?" she looked back at him.

"It's not that bad," his voice struggled to mask the pain. "I think it went right through."

Kate felt the heat of anger and worry flush in her face. "The hell with you," she spat as she forced him over and onto his back, "and your mother's hard ass!" She looked down and just as quickly as she had became angry at his trifling concern for himself, she immediately forgave him; he had no choice in being this way.

_There's so much blood_, Kate shook her head as she looked up at John. Seeing her expression, John look down his nose at his waist. He saw his shirt was drenched in blood and his breath became erratic --the possible severity of his wound had hit him. John reached down and un-tucked his shirt, lifting the bottom to his chest. Kate and John saw he was deeply lacerated on his right side, above his hip.

"You're going into shock..." Kate spoke low in an effort to keep them both calm. "We've got to get out of here," she said to herself while wrestling with the shoulder straps of her medical bag. She rose to her knees and looked away from John to search the crash site for Vince. She couldn't carry John alone.

"Kate?"

She felt his hand grip her wrist. She turned back, ignoring the want to call out to Vince, and faced John. She was all thumbs with her medical bag.

"You've lost a lot of blood. I...I gotta stop the bleeding," she explained to John.

He smiled up at her and stammered, "Kate, I'm...trying to tell you somethin-" he winced uncontrollably at the pain. His eyes rolled back and he bucked at the pressure of Kate pressing gauze into his wound.

"Vince!" she finally cried out, ignoring John's heavily panted breath at the pain she was causing him.

"Kate? Connor!?" she heard a distant voice yell from the other side of the HK. Kate let out a relieved laugh: Vince was alive.

"We're going to get you out of here," she faced John. He nodded, pursing his lips together. His face softened, but his eyes revealed anguish.

"John?" Kate asked. He was losing consciousness. She moved closer as he tried to mouth words. "What is it, John?"

"I...s-s..." his voice faded and Kate watched as he passed out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Title:** What's In A Name**  
Author:** gegacai**  
Pairings:** Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John**  
Rating:** PG**  
Words:** 2000+**  
Warnings:** Language, violence, and some gore.**  
Summary:** Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.**  
Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., John Brancato and Michael Ferris (?)

**Author's Note:** This fic references some events from T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

**What's In A Name  
Part 7**  
by gega cai

Kate tucked a lock of her auburn hair behind her ears as she looked over the progress she was making with John's button-up jacket. He was much better at mending their clothes than she was. The stitching was jagged and Kate could help but think of his wound looking something similar: sewn back together, but never the same. Like the shirt, it would be another reminder, another scar expressing more than any word or look could.

Kate squirmed in discomfort on her cot as she worked. She tightened the stitch and began to close up the small opening of what was a large gash taken out of John's side in the attack at the old radio station. She wondered how he was doing. It was her first moment alone and free from the constant debriefing she had endured since returning from their mission. By the time she was clear to leave, John was out of surgery and asleep. A strange maternal feeling had come over her as she watched him sleep in the infirmary earlier. It was nothing new to watch him sleep --there had been so many restless nights that he slept while her thoughts and fears kept her up for hours. Alone with the supposed savior of mankind against the machines? Naturally she studied him, wondering and even resenting what he represented.

Now, it was easy to look on his face and see so much more than that delinquent fugitive from a past she hardly could relate to being her own. He really was amazing to her. Kate smiled down at the jacket. A flash of young John Connor at Mike Cripkey's flashed in her mind. He hadn't changed much since then: still stubborn, demanding and _cool_. Yet, he was simple about things that were so complicated and patient with others. He was funny, too. John made Kate smile while nothing else in the world could. _So, here I am sewing up John Connor's battle-damaged clothes..._

"Brewster? Connor is awake. He's asked for you," a voice interrupted her thoughts. She jerked out of the meditative daze of sewing and the needle slipped, poking her finger. Kate swore as she looked up to acknowledge the news, but the messenger had already walked away.

She took her time getting to the infirmary. This was nothing new for either of them. They had done this so many times before; it was a dance they knew all the steps to: fight, survive and recover...for each other. The latter was an unspoken step between them. They had a history, but they were strangers when they met. _I had a life; I had a father and a fiance who I shared a car note with_, Kate often reminded herself. John had lost loved ones too. But his grief was ever-fleeting, as he was filled with the burden of knowing the future and his place in it. He never intended Kate to be a part of this, but she knew he could not imagine himself without her --she could see that when he looked at her.

Kate paused outside the infirmary and tried to imagine all of this, _this life_, without John Connor.

One of the doctor's assistants, a teenaged girl, rushed out from the infirmary and jumped at the sight of Kate waiting outside. "Excuse me," the girl blushed and hurried past.

Kate shook her thoughts and adjusted her shirt as she entered the infirmary. She saw John reclining in a hospital bed on the far side. He was looking away from the entrance. Kate looked around and saw that they were alone in the infirmary. Turning back to face him, she saw him looking her way and waiting for her to join him. She smiled and pushed back her hair as she stepped up to his bedside.

"Hey," he said in a low voice. His expression was indistinguishable, but his eyes were intense and following hers eagerly.

"How are you feeling? They said surgery went well..." Kate lowered her gaze. His stare was unnerving.

"Like a chunk of me is missing," he exhaled, waiting for her to smile. "How are the others?"

"You haven't talked to anyone?"

"No, I wanted to see you," he said plainly.

"Oh, uh, they're all good--" she began, but he lost interest in them and interrupted her.

"-And you?"

"I'm fine," she lifted her hand and rubbed her arm below her wounded shoulder. "A few stitches. Nothing to brag about like that one," she nodded to his bandaged waist under his opened shirt. He followed her eyes to his bandaged side.

"Yeah, looks like I'll be missing out for awhile." He turned back and looked up at her, again his eyes searched hers for something she was unsure she should be expressing. It was difficult to read John's mind. Sometimes, his thoughts surfaced easily. Most of the time, he held back and disconnected from them as best he could.

"John?"

"I'm sorry we lost Matt," he said suddenly. She understood now: he thought she was angry and blamed him.

"Don't be sorry, John," Kate shook her head and took a step closer at his bedside. "Matt believed in you..."

"I'm not sorry he died," he paused and shook his head. "Wait, that's not what I mean. He was...your friend. I'm sorry you lost your friend."

Kate lowered her had and nodded, "Me too."

"You okay?" he asked, craning his head to get a better view of her face. He gently gripped her arm above the elbow and squeezed lightly, unsure if the gesture was wanted or allowed.

She nodded again and a relieved laugh escaped from her.

"What?" he asked puzzled by the unexpected outburst.

She faced him and shrugged her shoulders. She blushed at the thought of what she was about to admit: "I'm glad you're okay, John--" she swallowed hard to hide the emotion in her voice.

John grimaced as he lifted his shoulders to get closer. Kate automatically shook her head at him to stop and lie back. He ignored her and spoke in a low, husky tone, "I should know better than to worry about you. You outlive me, right?" his eyebrows lifted at the reminder that they both had a supposed fate in their future together.

"I'm afraid of nothing in this world. Nothing but the fear of losing you, Kate," he said. His eyes stared back at her, studying her face for any reprieve.

Kate nodded, "I know, John," she said softly. She felt his grip on her arm loosen and the warmth of his fingers travel up her arm; his hand lifted from her shoulder and he boldly swept back a lock of her hair from her cheek. A chill went down her body as the back of his fingers grazed her skin.

"Sorry I called you Katie --it slipped," he said in the same low, husky tone as he watched his hand sweep below her ear. His fingers traced her jaw line and down her neck, where he took the liberty of spreading his fingers out under the collar of her shirt across her shoulder and collarbone. His fingers barely touched her skin intentionally, and the light tickling made her gasp silently. She resisted the urge to close her eyes in response and struggled to compose herself to reply.

"You can call me Katie..." she swallowed. His eyes darted to her lips and Kate felt her pulse quicken in response. His hand moved and his fingers traced across her skin just above the hem of her undershirt. Unexpectedly, he gripped the top un-buttoned half of her shirt together in a fist. His eyes searched hers eagerly again. He waited for her to reject him and to pull away. Instead, she placed a hand on the bed to balance herself.

Together, they stared into each others eyes wondering if this was what the other wanted. Kate said nothing, but her heavy eyelids couldn't mask her willingness. John could not wait any longer. He parted his lips and she felt him tug her shirt, pulling her closer to him. But, their moment was interrupted by the noisy approach of voices outside. Kate heard Simon's voice speaking loudly over the others. A low, annoying gruff came from John's throat. Before Kate realized their moment was over, the room was filled with their team from the radio station.

John reluctantly released her shirt; he neatly adjusted her collar, looking up at her as if to say, _Another time, Kate. Soon._

Kate stepped back from the small crowd around John's bed. Her eyes never left him as they stood around, all boisterous with their triumph and relief in surviving the mission: they were all heroes now in the eyes of the others at the base. She smiled absently as her name was mentioned. Every time John allowed himself a glance of her, she felt an inexplicable feeling rush through her. Kate had not felt something like butterflies in her stomach since all those years ago in Mike Cripkey's basement.

-- -- -- -- --

"Good news," Vince's voice boomed as he entered a small room that was covered wall-to-wall with maps and hand-drawn copies of machine's schematics (originally drawn and circulated by John, of course). Kate looked up from the table she was hours deep into reconnaissance and planning. It was obvious that she had not slept in the past 24 hours: her hair was loosely pulled back and her eyes were heavy with dark circles. That didn't matter, though. She had a lot of work left to do.

"-Tatum and her team are in," Vince continued. He pulled up a chair on the opposite side of the table and faced Kate. She nodded appreciatively, pinching the bridge of her nose and circled the fingers over her itchy eyes. Vince glanced down at her progress and raised an impressed eyebrow.

"Other-" the word stretched as she yawned. "Other bases to contact --No update from Montana."

"Sounds like a lot to be done," Vince watched Kate. She sat back in the chair, finally agreeing with her body that a break was necessary. She ignored the meaning of what he was getting at and stood to put away her work. Vince looked up at her and asked blankly, "What about John? Are you going to meet with him about this?"

"John wouldn't have recommended me to head the mission if he didn't have faith in me, Vince. I can do this," Kate offered.

Vince shook his head, "Brewster, I know you can do this. I'm not questioning that. I just don't understand why John isn't making it his business to know what the hell we're going to do. He hasn't asked about any of it and I know you two haven't caught up since he woke up the other day. It's...not like him." He stood as she finished putting away her documents and they both exited the room.

"Maybe he's enjoying the downtime," Kate joked. Vince shook his head at her from behind as he followed through the corridor. A small group passed them coming the opposite direction and they all nodded to another. Kate stopped and turned to face Vince. "We've got 72 hours. Skynet probably knows what we know. There's little time to-"

"I'm just wondering why he's not all over this like he always is," Vince whispered as two men squeezed by them.

"Don't worry about John. This is all he _will_ ever do. He knows this is all we're ever going to do," Kate explained. Vince couldn't follow what she was saying. He stood across from her, determined not to budge until he knew what was going on.

"Vince," her tone was soft and dire, "he understands this is my chance to clear my name." She watched his face soften at her admission. She gripped his shoulder and gave it an assuring shake, "I'll see you in the morning."


	8. Chapter 8

**Title:** What's In A Name**  
Author:** gega cai**  
Pairings:** Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John**  
Rating:** PG**  
Words:** 1000**  
Warnings:** Language, violence, and some gore in previous chapters.**  
Summary:** Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.**  
Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., John Brancato and Michael Ferris (?)

**Author's Note:** This fic references some events from T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

_A quick and short chapter before the next few chapters that will be intense with battles and action._

**What's In A Name  
Part 8**

by gega cai

Kate gripped the lever, careful to keep the ascent steady. Ignoring the voices in her helmet's com-link, she bared her teeth, stretching her lips at the task. A man's voice called over the whining sound of the engine and the thumping beat of the MH-53's blades chopping into the air above them: "You know how to fly this, Brewster?"

Her eyes darted to her co-pilot sitting next to her, but her head remained focused on a point beyond the cockpit of the helicopter. The co-pilot took a quick glance outside his side-window to see the HK meeting their speed and ascent. He looked back at Kate and shook his head. Cursing, Kate eased the cyclic stick to the side. The view outside the cockpit window changed from billowing smoke against the day-time sky to a wrap around view of the desert earth that had been below them. The helicopter was dangerously flying low and parallel to the ground. Kate spotted the tall figure of Vince below on the unexpected battle ground as she flew to shake off the HK.

Vince watched as the MH-53 made a donut-shaped flight around the ground above him. He dropped to one knee and lifted a missile launcher onto his shoulder. Exhaling, he lined up his shot before he swore Kate made eye contact with him as she circled the large bird around one last time. Vince looked away from the cockpit and re-lined his shot just a few feet in front of the HK's path. The launcher jerked him back as the missile sailed straight and above, leaving a tail of smoke.

Kate saw the smoke in the corner of her eye and gripped the controls even harder, waiting for the impact of the missile. Relief washed over her and the co-pilot as they heard the loud boom and felt the small shock wave of the HK exploding close behind.

"Two for two, Vince," Kate said with a smile in her voice.

Soon after, Vince, with the remaining survivors of the skirmish, greeted the landing helicopter. Shielding his eyes from the desert dust kicked up into the air, Vince signaled to the cockpit for Kate to see him immediately.

* * *

Vince spoke over the moaning of a fighter to Kate, "We surprised Skynet as much as they surprised us-" a piercing ripping sound from Kate interrupted him. Using the tape, she wrapped the moaning fighter's shin in gauze.

"It's unusual for them to be this far out," Kate said aloud, mostly to herself.

"Simon was able pull some information from one of the T-1s. Skynet had no idea about us, they were moving after Montana," Vince's brow raised, still astounded by the fact.

Kate rose from the fighter, slinging her medical bag over her shoulder. She shook her head incredulously, "It saw Montana moving and not us?"

"Either way, they know we're out here now if they didn't already."

Kate had assumed Skynet knew they were moving North. It was best to think it had known this all along and go as planned. Kate spoke, "It's possible we have a day or two ahead of Skynet if that was the last of the machines this far out. We continue as planned."

* * *

Kate drug her feet across the desert floor, leaving behind her the scene of men and women cradling their fresh wounds after her careful hands had treated them. Their shuffling bodies and stifled murmurs against the pain was nearly unnoticed, as it was so much a part of the sounds heard in this life after Judgment Day. Kate's eyes focused in the darkness and she saw a fortified pick up truck's metal flickering from a nearby fire some yards ahead of her. She gave a quick, assured nod to a huddled group of under-aged fighters as she passed them towards the flickering fire.

"...nothing we couldn't handle. We'll be deep in the woods in seventy-two hours. Over," Kate heard Vince say from inside the heavily dented Ford pick up. A low, digitized voice followed and Vince answered to it as Kate approached the opened passenger door.

The evening had been busy with one suture after another. Suddenly, Kate's body discovered it could fall apart now that her mind and hands were idle. She leaned forward, allowing the frame of the truck's cab door hold up her dead-tired weight. Vince had not noticed her and it felt like she had a moment to herself. Kate dug the brow of her forehead into the frame, expecting it to relieve the aching pain there.

"She should be done with the others. Hold on this frequency --I'll go check, sir" Vince had answered.

Her moment was gone now. Kate pushed her forehead from the rusted metal of the truck and shifted so Vince may see her better from the driver's side.

"Any news?" Kate asked, extending her hand for the receiver. Vince nodded a silent greeting and passed the receiver to her.

"Montana is en route. Rendezvous in seventy-two --we're making good time, Brewster," Vince remarked. He slid out of the cab and stood outside, facing her as he continued with a smirk, "He sounds bored."

Kate smiled and nodded in gratitude as Vince left her alone to speak with John.

"Brewster, three, twenty-two, over," she spoke into the receiver. There was a pause. No answer. _Maybe too long a pau_-, Kate thought before the click of static ended her building anxiety.

"Connor, three, twenty-two," John's digitized voice said flatly. _"I copy you, Kate_," he said softly to her. It had been the first time she heard from him since they passed the old Nevada border. Kate was relieved to be able to smile at the sound of his voice privately. "Vince says you flew like a bird today, over," she heard him say with some pride.

"Yeah, too many birds in the air today. We'll be out of range soon enough," Kate shrugged. "How are you doing? Over," she bit her lip.

"Taking it slow, Brewster," he assured. "I should be back to my old habits when you get back. Don't worry. Over"

Kate let out a knowing chuckle at his promise to never yield being_ John Connor_, but she understood what he meant for her to hear. _He's waiting for me to return_, she thought.

Just then, Vince returned with a small group with anxious, fire-lit expressions looking back at her.

"John, I have to go. We'll get back with base with updates as they come. We'll get back soon," she paused. It was awkward to end the discussion without a private goodbye. He probably could get by without one.

"-Kate?" his voice rang out. "Remember to watch your back and expect them anywhere --Kate?" he asked for her again, waiting.

"I'll get back to you soon," she said softly, matching his tone before. "Clear."


	9. Chapter 9

**Title:** What's In A Name**  
Author:** gega cai**  
Pairings:** Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John**  
Rating:** PG**  
Words:** 1700+**  
Warnings:** Language, violence, and some gore in previous chapters.**  
Summary:** Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.**  
Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., John Brancato and Michael Ferris (?)

**Author's Note:** This fic references some events from T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

**What's In A Name  
Part 9**

by gega cai

Kate held her breath, counting down seconds to herself as she and her small team waited. Her stomach stretched and turned, not from nerves or fear, but from hunger. She made the decision to take a small group to the meet-up as planned. They were able to make better time with the small number in their group, but food had run low. Impatient shuffling of those around her filled the silence. She checked the time again; the second hand just ticked eight minutes past the planned rendezvous time. Kate furrowed her brow at the thought of what could have happened. It would be a mistake to radio --it could give their position away if Skynet was in the area.

Little was known on how far out Skynet was from major cities. While most of Skynet's defense was centered in L.A., it had branched itself outside in other states in larger cities that could support its network. There were rumors that Skynet was _systematically_ everywhere, but laid dormant in areas it saw as no threat, even in re-populated cities that had slowly been reconstructed as groups of small settlements since Judgment Day. However, machines could be anywhere, waiting for a target to cross its path.

"What do you think?" Simon asked as he looked up from the time. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, leaving the sky behind him purple and blue. Kate could not see his expression, only the tip of his nose and his mouth peaking from the shadow of his cap's visor. "Kate?" his mouth said.

"They'll make it," she replied.

Another long three minutes passed before a distant flicker caught Kate's eyes. Simon and another saw it too, both shifting their weight and looking at Kate to see if she had seen it. Kate cut her hand through the air, signaling them to be still and look ahead at where the light had come from. Their movement and attention into the darkness ahead of them caught the others in her team's attention. Now, half a dozen weathered faces peered over Kate's shoulders, watching and waiting. Soon after, the flickering started again and instead of a sigh of relief, Kate swallowed hard at the signal. _They'd made it._

She nodded to a young male at her side to signal back. He nodded expectantly, wiping the sweat from his lip before he began. There was a beat after their return-signal finished when the O-K to meet up was cleared on the other end. After a quick jog in the open darkness of an Idahoan plain, Kate and her team were greeted by members of the Montana Civil Defense. They were all smiles, their teeth gleaming in the darkness. It had been two years since Kate and John had seen them last. Eagerly, she hugged them back while the moment of familiarity could last.

"Hell of a time to be meeting again, Brewster," a gruff, male voice said from one of the shadowed figures of the Montana group. Kate searched the faces in the darkness for the voice. Both her small group and the Montana group stopped to witness the exchange. A tall (and visibly older man than anyone in both groups) stepped forward into the opening around Kate. He removed his cap as if to get a better look at Kate's small frame compared to his. He looked her up and down before stepping forward once more.

"It's hell anywhere you go, Tabor," Kate replied. Tabor gave an amused grunt and nodded knowingly. "I wouldn't have thought you'd come all the way out here with the welcoming party," she added.

"I had to see it for myself, Brewster. _You_, all the way the hell out here without Connor?" Tabor shot back as he waved at the darkness. Kate saw Simon step up in the corner of her eye; his jaw clenched at Tabor in offense. "Settle down, soldier," Tabor hissed.

"You see, we have got ourselves a democracy at ole Montana, thanks to Connor and Brewster here," Tabor spoke to the crowd around them. "After a few months of radio-tag, the boys and girls thought these two had it all figured out. Yet, here we all are, years later and the machines still got us running like fucking cockroaches!"

"Tabor..." Kate said through her teeth. Annoyed, she looked away from him as he continued.

"Anyway," he waved at Kate, "I have to see it for myself. They say you've got big plans, Brewster. A plan to turn our shit-eating days into a thing of the past," he began to chuckle at the thought. Instead of leaving it at that, he stopped cold in front of her, the fog of his heavy breath breaking against her face: "Big plans, huh? We all know what happened the last time a Brewster had big plans for everyone," Tabor spat.

"You son-of-a-" Simon started towards Tabor. His feet kicked out from under him as Kate and another quickly held him back; Tabor sneered at them.

"Welcome back," Tabor said coldly before he disappeared from the crowd into the darkness. Two dark figures followed him as the others looked back at Kate.

"Just like old times," Kate said as she let Simon go. He straightened his jacket and visor and looked up at her confused.

"What the hell was that all about?" he asked. "I thought you and Connor were friends with these people."

"Tabor was their leader," Kate began. "When Connor and I came around, things changed," she shrugged and raised an eyebrow: "It's like he said: they're a democracy now."

"Never mind Tabor," a member of the Montana group offered to ease the tension. "He's just old and bitter. His problem is that he knew what life was like before J-Day. Not many have that luxury. He's still living in the past."

Kate offered no reply or explanation; she stood and waited patiently to move on. The others took her lead. Soon after, she and her team followed the Montana group behind Tabor ahead. Unseen in the pitch black, Kate blushed at Tabor's words. It seemed that it never mattered how far along Connor pushed the resistance, there was always an underlining distrust.

_Skynet can't be reasoned with_, John's voice said to her. He said it so often to others that the words felt like a slogan that should be scrawled across what remaining billboards there were to be seen.

Kate could not blame Tabor or be angry with him. He had to blame someone. They all did. That was human nature, or so John had tried to tell her to make her feel less guilty. Yet, Tabor's words were true. _They all thought it_, probably even those that believed in Connor and agreed to be under Kate's command. Kate felt like some kind of bad omen following what should have been John's un-questioned destiny. As much as he would be better off without her, his journey would be with her --he made sure of it.

Judgment Day haunted Kate's past as it had once haunted John's future. Bad decisions were made. Though, John had the luxury to look to the future as a means to escape and beat Skynet before it defeated humanity, he'd have another chance to take the battle into the past. _His redemption has already been foretold_, Kate reminded herself. He had given up his mother's strategy of trying to change the future or the past with the present. Unfortunately, that was the problem that John and Kate came across time and again with each group they encountered. They were all living in the past in some way that kept them from surviving. Kate stopped herself. _I can't judge them. I look to the past as much as they do._

_Only he seems to be living for the future _–_cause he always has_, she thought to herself. John's face flashed across her mind. It was the face of an unknown, older man looking back at her --yet, beyond her own face at a sea of so many that she was sure hers had became lost in. He was their great hero they didn't know of yet.

_Oh, but they know my name_, Kate thought. For so little that is understood or known to have happened on Judgment Day, the infamous name, Brewster, was scorched in proverbial stone; it was their permanent reminder like the nuclear shadows etched across crumbling cityscapes of those lost that day.

* * *

"All right, let's see what you've got here," Kate heard as the man took the envelope from her. He slipped the contents out of the envelope and fingered through them, at first unengaged until his eyes fell upon the document labeled CTSP-587. His brow furrowed and he gripped the paper with both hands, re-reading what was shown. His eyes stopped reading and slowly rose to meet Kate's.

"Is this supposed to be what we found out there?"

"Yes, sir. The coordinates Connor radioed ahead and you confirmed as a place of interest are where we think the arms are kept. Untouched and unused, sir," Kate swallowed.

"And Skynet?"

"It knows it's out there, but --Connor thinks Skynet must have calculated the likelihood of any human interception of the arms as improbable. If Skynet is there," she paused to sigh heavily, "If anything is out there, it's a good chance we could take it out and secure the goods."

"You already have a plan?"

"Yes, I need anyone you can allow to go with me. The sooner the better."

"I see. I'll have to take this up with the rest of them, you know."

"The sooner the better, sir," she repeated. "We're rolling out in forty-eight," Kate said as she nodded politely and left.


	10. Chapter 10

**Title:** What's In A Name**  
Author:** gega cai**  
Pairings:** Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John**  
Rating:** PG**  
Words:** 2400+**  
Warnings:** Language, violence, and some gore in previous chapters.**  
Summary:** Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.**  
Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., John Brancato and Michael Ferris (?)

**Author's Note:** This fic references some events from T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

_I swore I wrote the first half of this part in a previous chapter, but I guess not. That is what I get for taking awhile to update between parts! Thank you all for reading!_

**What's In A Name**  
**Part 10**  
by gega cai

Once we clear the elevator shaft and descend down to this large lower level, there's an estimated fifteen to twenty minute window to override the system and then about an hour to secure the arms," Kate said as she stepped aside from the crudely-drawn floor plan of the American military base. It hung behind her in the largest room that could accommodate what Montana had to offer her as an operative force against Skynet. The room, like the people crammed into it for their briefing of the mission, had seen better days. It reeked of musk with a hint of a defeated and rusted 20th century. Kate turned to face the group of mostly young people, barely men and women of age, looking back at her and the map. Most had dumb faces; others raised an eyebrow at such a gutsy plan. She heard the distinct laugh of Tabor muffled among those that whispered to each other with their doubts.

Finally, someone stood to speak up, "You said Skynet may be there –that you're taking the chance that machines aren't there to protect those weapons. That's a hell of a chance, Brewster. What are we going to do if we succeed in getting there and Skynet shows up within that hour window? The weapons may be a total waste--"

"Yeah!" another agreed, "They could all be damaged or unusable; that's why Skynet deserted it!"

More voices spoke over each other, each with their own concern._ It's in their nature_, Kate heard John's voice reason in her mind.

"Listen!" Kate yelled over them. Still they clamored with their reasoning against the move. Kate saw Tabor looking back at her with a nasty smile; she flushed at his taking pleasure in the breakdown around them.

Just then, a loud and piercing whistle cut through the noise. Everyone looked and saw big Vince stepping up, his fingers leaving his lips as the whistle faded. He nodded over his shoulder towards Kate and said calmly through his teeth, "Listen to the lady."

"Thank you, Vince," Kate exhaled. It bothered her that he had to intervene. He stepped back, giving her their full attention again. She pushed back her hair and continued, "You all are right. It's dangerous --even foolish, but so is accepting to live like this any day longer!"

"We can turn _this_ around. You all know you're the best fighters and the most qualified to get in and get out. There may never be another chance to do something like this --I know what it seems like I'm asking," she began softly. "I can't change the past. I'm not asking for forgiveness or whatever the hell it is you all think I owe you to believe in me. But, I _believe_ in something that is greater than what we have, even if we have to be ripped apart, one by one, to escape this shit we're all living through. No matter how I would like this to end for my sake, I'm doing it because I trust Connor and what he sees in our future."

She paused and stared at them, hoping they were hearing her message before she gave it to them plainly: "You either do this now or get left behind. I refuse to leave my fate in the hands of a machine or whatever Skynet is supposed to be."

The crowd remained silent and watched her turn to Vince. She had nothing else to say; Kate couldn't look back at them all and wait any longer for them to decide. Instead, she crossed to the table beside Vince, determined to ignore anymore naysayers or opposition. With her jaw clenched, she busied herself with fastening on a clunky utility belt and zipped up her jacket.

"Let's go," she said over her shoulder to Vince, still ignoring the Montana group as they watched her leave with her small team.

* * *

"She's quieter than a mouse, Brewster," a young female said looking away from her monitor. Her face glowed half blue from the team's lights and half red from the monitor. Apart from her shaven head and the light scars etching the young angles of her face, she was a cute girl.

In another time or life, the girl might have done something different in life then this. There was no place in a human resistance against machines for good looks. Women had been just as instrumental as men were in rebuilding settlements and surviving after the bombs fell to be considered inferior or a minority. Yet, Kate had witnessed many women who used what good looks they had left to get along with men who could provide for them. This girl was different. Montana had always been a threat to Skynet. This girl, as young as she was, was one of their best assets. She'd seen many battles –-several close calls by the look of some of the marks on her. Kate reasoned that she must have chosen against using her good looks to stay alive or maybe she just did not know better.

That kind of thinking was archaic even if it was barely half a decade since Judgment Day. Instead, the girl was a female version of Simon, or even John when he was her age. It took her no time at all to access the base's network, which seemed to be "Snoozing on minimal power. I'll even have to turn on the life support systems when you reach the lower levels."

"Okay, but no systems online until we're past the half-way mark. I'm counting on Skynet to be here when this old bunker is awoken and buzzing," Kate said in a wash of blue light. She was sweating heavily from the weight the equipment she was wearing and from the dry heat of the mid-morning sun cooking them from outside the armored van. The glistening of her face in the blue light made her look metal, like the machine she was becoming to get through this mission.

"That's radio silence for everyone until I break it. Vince?" She nodded to him. He tipped his head to the side in Kate's view from behind the bald headed girl to nod and acknowledge her command. "Okay, Vince's team will follow mine down. The rest await my command. With a little luck, we'll see you all top-side sooner than later," Kate smiled at them.

* * *

_Making good time. It can't be necessary to carry all of this?_, Kate asked herself as she, Simon, and a small number of her alpha team rappelled down one of the deep and wide shafts of the inactive base. Her thighs and arms burned with each push off the cold surface. Suppressing a wince, she adjusted her belt so that her handgun wasn't digging into her thigh anymore. Simon seemed to be having the most difficulty with the weight of their equipment. The kid was barely over a hundred pounds --his body was shocked with the weight and effort it had to exert. Yet, he bore through as they all did, determined not to get left behind.

Kate ignored the somewhat amusing sight of Simon turning purple, to read the LED screen-pad on her forearm: **LEVEL :12**

They were almost at the half point.

It was some time later that they touched down at the bottom level. The atmosphere was stale and unusually quiet except for the low whir of life support trying to function after years of inactivity. Kate brought up her LED screen to view a rough floor plan of the level. Her concentration was interrupted by the flash of flares lighting up from Simon and the others. The level glowed and flickered alive for the first time since it had been abandoned shortly after Judgment Day.

"Alpha team has touched down. Keep your eyes and ears peeled, we may have company soon," Kate spoke into her communication link.

Vince's static voice replied, "Copy that: Brew team close behind and on top of ya. See you soon."

"Mm --nothing like the static tingled-smell of mankind's achievements rotting away in a concrete hole in the ground," one of Kate's team members said.

"Shit, until that static tingle is a pain eating away at your blown gut from a HK's gun...nothing before it should be missed. It can all rot!" another said.

"Cool it!" Simon called back. He turned to Kate, waiting for her command.

"It should be down this corridor," Kate motioned behind Simon.

Simon turned to face the darkness beyond the flickering of their flares; others turned to face it too. Kate could sense the dread in the room. Skynet could have rigged the place with anything just so it could leave the place rotting here, waiting to take out anything or anyone willing to go in after such a precious cargo.

"I'll head first," Kate announced. They all turned back to face her, mostly relieved she offered but also approvingly with respect. She took a flare from one of the team members and walked passed them into the darkness. Simon followed close behind, keeping her within a few strides of his reach. Kate knew he did so only because John would have revered him for the rest of his days if he were to stop Skynet from hurting Kate. _I'll take what I can get_, Kate joked to herself.

Soon, they all stood looking at what must have been a thick, heavy door that could not be opened by hand. It was nearly as wide as the corridor and a few feet taller than Kate. To their immediate left, a single, standard door and observation window encased what must have been a security guard's room.

"Think you can swing this big boy open in less than ten minutes?" Kate asked Simon.

"Yeah, gimme five," he replied, sprinting to the guardroom door. Kate followed, half-smiling, as she found him struggling with the door. In true John Connor fashion, she griped his shoulder and pulled him back, allowing her the room to kick the door open.

"Thanks," he said sheepishly.

He entered and quickly pulled up a chair to the guardroom's console. In one single motion, he removed a laptop from his backpack and set it open on the console. At first, he paused looking over the console, searching. Finally, he blew hard on the console's buttons, sending dust into the air. Fighting back a cough, he flipped its power button –Kate turned away as the console hummed on and checked outside the window at the team waiting outside. Seeing them safely watching out their position, she turned and leaned in over the console. _Still clear...less than three minutes, Simon. C'mon..._

Simon shot a side-glance at Kate, an obvious uneasy look at her attention to him working. Taking the hint, she left the room to let him work. John never had a problem with her watching over him as he hacked into systems. Of course, he was a lot quicker and there was no reason to wait impatiently over his shoulder.

Kate peered down the darkened corridor as the bald headed girl's voice cracked in their ears, "Skynet scouts are en route, Brewster. Looks like the unwanted guests will be arriving to this party once they get image confirmation. Less than forty-five until we have bogies in the Sky. Over."

_Shit_, Kate thought. "Copy that --Vince, await my command and stay at your current position. Over."

"Will do, over," he replied.

Then, a mechanical pop came from the big door.

"Nicely done, Simon," Kate said into her link.

They all stared at it cautiously --it even had a blinking green light begging them to breach its secrets.

"Good job, Simon," Kate called over. She, with a few other hands helping her, pulled the heavy door to swing it open. It whined and gritted as it swung. Inside, the room's light source began to flicker on. Simon sprinted into view of Kate's peripheral vision as they all stood staring into the opened room before them.

"This can't be real--," one of the team members began to say.

"They were right," another added in a whisper.

Kate swallowed hard as she watched the last florescent light finally click on and its glow hit an armored vehicle. The American industrial complex had not been joking around with this stock-pile. This room was one of many in the base.

Kate began to step inside when Simon spoke, "Hey, has Connor been here before?"

"What? No..." Kate said puzzled.

"Well, I figured I'd mention it. There's something weird going on in the system. I figured it was something of Connor's. I mean, he can do that right?"

"What are you talking about, Simon? Explain it to me," Kate demanded.

"I dunno. The system was acting like it was expecting me, I mean us. It practically pointed me in the right direction to open this room."

"You followed it?"

"Well, yeah. I--," Simon shrugged.

"Top-side! Brew Team! Be prepared to engage, Skynet is already here! Repeat! Skynet is here!" Kate spat into her com-link as she sprinted hard into the room.


	11. Chapter 11

**Title:** What's In A Name**  
Author:** gega cai**  
Pairings:** Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John**  
Rating:** PG**  
Words:** 1700+**  
Warnings:** Language, violence, and some gore in previous chapters.**  
Summary:** Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.**  
Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., John Brancato and Michael Ferris (?)

Author's Note: This fic references some events from T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

**What's In A Name**

**Part 11**

by gega cai

"Confirmed aerostats are en route; no sign of Skynet defenses in air or on ground," cracked a female voice in Kate's ear. Kate gestured to Simon, who had followed her closely into the underground room to help her lift a heavy cover from a large vehicle he'd never seen before.

"Keep eyes and ears open. Once those aerostats have visual confirmation of our location and how many of us are out here, anything can happen," Kate barked back into her communication link.

"Vince, get your men down this way. I need these things topside _now_."

"Copy that, over," Vince replied.

Together, Kate and Simon pulled back the large, dusty cover to reveal an Apache, which Simon stood back and admired in naivety. He swallowed hard and tried to act unimpressed in front of Kate. Clearly he could see the potential of such a bird; he was only familiar with the half-hazard transport helicopters that had crudely-fixed guns attached for offense. An Apache, if any, had never been seen by younger survivors of Judgment Day. The only man-made killers in the skies were piloted by Skynet.

Kate hadn't noticed Simon's awe and called out to him as she disappeared into the Apache: "Simon, check around for ammunition while I try to fire up this thing."

Simon found plenty of ammunition. He waited to report to give himself a moment as he knelt beside a small cache. This place was real. Guns, tanks, planes, and ammunition were all down here waiting to be used. Simon clenched his jaw in a sudden absolution that came over him; he made a promise to himself and to John Connor then: _It'll all be used to stop Skynet._ He grabbed what he could and returned the Apache. His small muscles burned as he lifted and slid what he had into the gut of the Apache. He hopped inside and quickly made work of placing the gear and ammunition for their aerial attack.

Inside the cockpit, Kate felt the Apache bounce from Simon moving around and she looked back to see him clicking a safety harness on.

"Are you out of your damn mind?" she called back at him into the link. Simon looked up and met her incredulous gaze.

"I can do this –I _want_ to do this!" he protested. His voice was even and sincere. He tightened the harness as an added proclamation that he was flying with her. Kate tried to ignore her sudden swelling admiration for him and what it meant to her that he would die for his belief in John. She shook her head at him.

"You've never engaged in aerial combat. Get the hell out of here!"

Simon remained, his eyes never leaving Kate's. She cursed under her breath, but he heard her anyway and took it as an approval for him to stay.

"Just keep an eye on our tail and do what you do on the ground: aim for the damn engines," she spat into the link. She turned back to the Apache's console and flipped switches in annoyance. _If the kid dies, I blame John._

* * *

Kate steered hard to her left, exposing Simon to the remaining aerostat. She held her breath as he took his shot at it from the Apache. He made his mark and the aerostat blew apart in the sky; small bits of it fell to the ground below where Kate's topside offense watched and waited. She heard Simon yell out in victory behind her. The Apache leveled in the sky and she came back around for a gracious fly by for Simon to thrust his gun in the air and incite a roar from the crowd. Kate smiled under her mouthpiece.

"Get in here, hero," she said. Simon joined her in the front of the Apache and sat in the copilot seat. She waited to acknowledge him so that she could focus on maneuvering the bird. Reality began to settle back into his mind then -she saw it reflected in his expression and deep breathing when she faced him.

"HK's should be arriving soon. How's your ammo?" she asked.

"We're good. I was careful with my shots."

Kate tried to find encouraging words to offer but only an awkward silence followed. Simon looked back at her with a serious face and began to say something that must have been important. Something he wanted to share with her alone. It would have to wait.

"HK drone's incoming," a female voice called into their ears.

"Copy that. Brew team hold your positions. Ground forces engage in gunfire on sight," Kate commanded. She turned to Simon and nodded. He returned her nod and disappeared behind her into the Apache. Outside the cockpit window, Kate witnessed other Apaches of her Brew team lift in the air and line up to welcome the HK's popping up as small dots in the horizon.

"You think the bigger ones will show up?" Simon's voice asked in her ear.

"Yes, they always do."

Gun fire began to spray from the ground below them. Simon watched small drones spark and fly apart a short distance away from the aerial front. He gripped the frame of the Apache to fight the gravity pulling him down and out while Kate maneuvered to join the aerial forces in front. Now at the front, Simon crouched at the opening of the Apache and peaked around at its nose to see how close Skynet was to their front. His eye caught the sight of the nearest Apache in air and turned to see the pilot give him a thumb up in support. Simon nodded in return and leaned back inside. He saw Kate's hand busy on the console in the cockpit. The rest of her was unseen, but he imagined her face watching the fighting before her with a serious expression. She was a more structured leader at commanding people, he decided. Connor was a natural leader. Brewster was more academic about it. She knew the odds when Connor usually ignored them for a gut instinct. Her father must have been a good man, like John had told him once. He had to have been a good man to raise a strong daughter that would be respected and appreciated by a man like John Connor.

"You all right back there?" her voice cracked in his ear.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied.

"Good, here they come."

Simon poked his head out and around the side of the Apache. She was right: in the distance beyond the small attack of the drones were a dozen larger aerial HK's.

"Were you expecting that many, Brewster?"

"Nope."

Simon couldn't help but crack a smile. Her confidence was never misplaced. His smile faded as he watched a group of drone's gun down men below to create a gap for the larger HK's to enter the fight and engage.

"No!" Kate yelled. The nose of her Apache dipped and she flew forward to be the first to meet the large HK's. Simon took aim, ready to shoot them all to hell.

* * *

Kate smeared the tears on her cheek with a long sleeve of her shirt. She thought she had been prepared for the lives that would be lost today. She'd seen many bodies since leaving Crystal Peak and nearly as many horrible deaths happen right in front of her. Yet, none of them, not even the death of her father, compared to the loss of lives under her command. How John could bear it was unknown to her.

Vince and Simon had accommodated her wishes in allowing her privacy and keeping would-be visitors away after she retreated to a small room she had converted into a workspace for her command. She had made a brief appearance at the somber celebration for their victory over Skynet. Montana, with its newly acquired military base, was now an offensive threat in the resistance against the machines. Retaliation was expected soon. Then war.

Now, she was alone in her workspace. The day's victory came at such a heavy price. Before her were outdated documents on John's next target to acquire old military weaponry and resources. Kate looked over the intel again, this time with a wandering thought of how John was doing and what he might say if he were here with her. He would share her guilt and pain for the lives lost. Yet, he would put it all in perspective as he always did.

She began to remember a conversation they had once soon after Judgment Day. It had been a difficult day for them. They had found out that a small group of survivors they'd been in radio contact for several months were now missing. It was the first instance of a raid on a human settlement where machines took survivors to never been seen or heard from again.

_"They'll think we're crazy. I've seen what they do when you try to explain what is happening. They're not ready yet, Kate"_

_"Damn it, John, it's not them! You're the one that isn't ready-"_

_"You're right. I'm not ready … but they're not ready either. I don't become _their_ John Connor in a matter of days after humanity being nearly wiped out by a fucking computer system! _We_ had the luxury of looking death up close in the eyes of machines sent from a future that I don't even know exists anymore. They were proof. There's no denying it when it's coming down on you at every turn, determined to see you dead."_

_"All of them, those barely surviving out there, have years to see that evil in person someday like we have. We have no proof of what Skynet will become. They weren't ready for it when my mother tried to explain it without proof. They won't be ready for it now. It's so much to ask for their lives in the name of victory. We have to be careful. I refuse to do it blindly and get people killed and know later that losing them could have been avoided."_

_"They should know my cause is worth dying for. I want their confidence -I want to earn their trust, Kate_._"_

Kate's memory was interrupted by a light tapping at the door. She pinched the bridge of her nose and massaged upward, across her forehead, trying to ease the headache there. She rose heavily from the table and crossed to the door and opened it to find Simon and Vince waiting outside.

"We're turning in unless you needed us for anything else, ma'am," Vince said in a hushed voice over Simon's shoulder. Simon looked up at Kate with a calm, yet eager expression.

"No, I think we're done for the day. Rest sounds good," she smiled. Her eyes fell and studied the dirt and battle-damage on their pant legs and leg guards. Simon's legs left first, leaving Vince to bid her a goodnight.

Kate followed an empty corridor to her personal quarters. There, she closed herself in again and curled up on her cot. The tears came easily and she fell asleep with burning eyes and a dampened pillow.


	12. Chapter 12

**Title:** What's In A Name**  
Author:** gega cai**  
Pairings:** Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John**  
Rating:** PG**  
Words:** 2400+**  
Warnings:** Language, violence, and some gore in previous chapters.**  
Summary:** Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.**  
Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., John Brancato and Michael Ferris (?)

Author's Note: This fic references some events from T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

**What's In A Name  
Part 12**

by gega cai

Weeks became months as each potential military base on John's list were crossed out as 'acquired', 'destroyed', or 'emptied' by Kate's growing campaign. Long days of extended reconnaissance and information-gathering by radio or local hear-say wove the weeks together, which were almost indistinguishable from another until all their efforts came together in the longest days spent fighting Skynet forces. Unfortunately, Skynet became more aware and suspicious of human activity in remote military area's it had _calculated_ as insufficient or destroyed on or since Judgment Day.

The miscalculation, caught by John, was the beginning of Skynet's end in Kate's mind. It would be a long and drawn out end, of course. If the future would be as the machine had told them it would be on Judgment Day; there was a lot more to be seen as Skynet's end. Part of Kate wanted to disbelieve the inevitable, yet, that was fleeting. Surviving Judgment Day hours after being told it would happen would make anyone a believer in the future that is now their present. So it was that Kate and John saw in each other the end of their enemy. Many of those under her command began to believe that too. Now months into John's campaign under her command, the apparent salvation they had to offer was a common topic of conversation she overheard as she passed men and women in their downtime between missions. They began to look at her differently. Before, when she would meet strangers that recognized her name or discovered its history, they would look at her with a cold study that screamed, _"How could your father do this to us…"_ or _"you're to blame"_.

Their new looks of respect and curiosity took some adjustment. Even Tabor, a constant source of annoyance to her and disillusion to other soldiers, began to warm to the agenda. Tabor especially found it easy to be quiet and follow command after Kate saved his ass more than once. Though her command had become more confident, she still felt reserved and distant from others. She had Vince and Simon for support and most conversations she had involved them, but she began to miss the connection she shared with John. There was nothing to be done about that, though. Having weeks to recover from a severe wound since he last saw Kate in person, John was busy checking off other old military targets with his own team. Unfortunately, that meant there were periods of no word or rumor on how John's latest mission might have gone, mostly due to secrecy and communication problems.

The recent no-contact period from John's team had elapsed longer than Kate could accept. There were orders that any news of John and his team's whereabouts were to be notified immediately, even if they were likely false or Skynet-fed misinformation. Kate was confident that John was not dead. It did not excuse her mind from worry, though. _He could be hurt, or worse … captured_, a voice repeated in her mind.

It was early morning, before sunrise, that Simon came running full speed at Kate who stood nearby the lines for the food-rationing trucks. The soldiers were in good spirits despite Connor's missing. Kate, unusually seen just after dressing from a shower, was facing parallel down the line of people waiting to eat. She had her eyes on the distant horizon where the sun would soon be peeking out at them. The line moved forward and those passing by her nodded and casually saluted their commander, who looked somewhat out of place with a clean face (being fed bites of food), and a dark colored tee tucked into black cargo pants cinched with tall combat boots. With her weight on one leg, she seemed ready to greet the day even with her hair still wet in a loose French braid. Unfortunately, the meal was short; she was chewing the last bite of her ration when the sight of Simon stumbling and running hard in her direction made her lose the want to swallow it. He slid to a stop in front of her and paused to catch his breath.

"Brewster, ma'am, there's contact from John's team. They're requesting assistance. They're …" Kate did not allow him to finish. She took off away from him and the food line to radio tent to hear it herself.

* * *

"…Repeat: we are being tailed by large Skynet forces. We are outnumbered and losing distance between the enemy. This is F-A-T-E requesting immediate assistance. Coordinates will follow for possible rendezvous. Over."

The radio operator, the young balled girl from Montana, looked up at Kate leaning over the table listening to the message with her. Kate nodded at her.

"Copy that, F-A-T-E. This is Brew Team. We are within a few hours distance and are able to accept. Waiting coordinates for rendezvous. Over."

"Alright, get those numbers to Vince. Keep me updated on any new details," Kate ordered. She looked over at Simon and saw the relief on his face that she felt. "He's not out of it yet," she cautioned, which drained the relieved expression from his face.

Within the hour, they were en route to join John Connor's team.

"What the hell do you think he's been up to, Brewster?" Vince asked some time later through their communication link. Both she and Vince looked out ahead of them from the helicopter's cockpit.

"No idea. He's gone further out and with each mission -he's been more unspoken about it and I understand it to be a secret what he's been tracking down," Kate replied.

"Look, there," Vince pointed ahead.

They saw tiny, dark objects hover and fly above the ground in the distance. Below the flying objects was a dust cloud, undoubtedly kicked up into the air by vehicles and combat moments on the ground.

"Looks like we found the party," Vice said dryly.

* * *

"You got one on your tail, Kate," John's voice said in her ear. Below the helicopter, Kate could see him taking cover with a small group of his team behind one of their vehicles that had been shot and blown over earlier in the battle. Only a few yards separated them and a small line of T-1 machines gunning down the resistance with their heavy gunfire. It was unusual for T-1's to be so far outside city limits.

"The larger H-K's were fitted with two each, releasing them on the ground in a slow, low fly by. The team was too small to take them out. Those of us left retreated," John had explained through their communication links after Kate's team arrived. Fortunately, the larger H-K's and T-1's were easy targets, being big and slower than their smaller counterparts. Though a few T-1's on the ground were still keeping John's team under heavy gunfire, Kate's aerial assault kept the H-K's from taking out huge casualties below.

Kate had surveyed the fighting below for the one she knew –the one she would recognize at first sight. His movements were like her own now; she could spot him easily in any crowd and even better in a battle. His pace was unique and she could even spot him by how he carried his equipment and weapons. Her eyes darted from one hurried or crouched person to the next and then back up in front of her to swing the helicopter around. She cursed the flying machine that took her attention away from the scenes below.

_Just a glance. He must see me up here –why hasn't he radioed me? It's been so long since …_, Kate thought erratically. She flew the helicopter down and leveled beside an H-K. Behind her and Vince in the cockpit, Simon made quick work of the low flying H-K.

"Head's up. Another bird down –good shot, Simon," Kate spoke into her communication link.

"Nice flying up there, Brew Team," a familiar voice cracked in her ear. Her reaction was uncontrollable; she took a sharp deep breath at the sound of his voice. She wasn't the only one to be happy to finally hear from John Connor.

"Copy –thank you, sir!" Simon's enthused voice replied. Kate's amused expression at Simon's quick and audible delight met Vince's look and they shook their head in astonishment. Yet, she was grateful. A moment later and she spotted John in the battle, but he was too far below to see his face. A quick sight of him would have to be enough. There was no time to be personal and enjoy a strained reunion. Instead, they did as was expected and led the battle to a now certain victory.

The last H-K, barely able to keep itself in the air, spun on an engine and went for Kate's helicopter in the distance as she rose higher in the air after assisting in the destruction of the last T-1. John, who was even further away from the H-K after Kate, saw its maneuver and intended target. He checked around him and even foolishly at the gun in his hand for something that could be used against the H-K at his distance. He found nothing. Ignoring the panic swelling inside him, he spoke into his link, "Kate, you've got one incoming from behind, 7 o'clock."

John watched as she spun the backend of the helicopter so that Simon's small figure faced out from the side at the incoming H-K. John held his breath as the H-K fired on them. A voice called out in his ear and it broke his attention away from the air.

"What? Repeat that," he ordered. He looked up to see the H-K descend from the air in a fiery blaze just before crashing into the ground. He saw Simon's small fist thrust in the air and thought he heard a distant cry of victory.

"…immediate … Brew Team back to base," the voice cracked again in John's ear. The static noise distorted the message, but John understood. Kate was needed elsewhere now.

Kate heard the message too. She replied in a flat voice: "Copy that. Brew Team is en route."

"We're leaving now?" Simon called out to the cockpit. Kate shared his displeasure, but it could not be helped.

"Our mission is done here. We have to return, something's up at base. Connor can't be held up to see is off. He's got his own missions," Vince tried to explain.

Kate looked back over her shoulder and nodded in agreement with Vince, "Another time, Simon."

Simon looked crushed at the knowledge he would not get to see John in person. Despite his disappointment, he nodded too. Kate envied Simon's open admiration for John. She watched him turn away from the cockpit and look out the side of the helicopter toward where they had last seen John below them. Kate turned back to face the sky in front of her and Vince. She held the helicopter in the air for a moment giving no indication she was going to leave to join her team back to base. Vince looked at Kate, waiting for her to make a move.

Yards away, John kept a watch on Kate's helicopter as he scouted for the wounded and took in reports from his sergeants on their losses. He was crouched beside a few men who had been grouped together based on their low-risk wounds, checking their state of mind when he glanced up at the helicopter hovering in the sky. Unusual, he thought, that she would just sit there. Maybe something happened to Simon or others with her inside. John nodded at a wounded man's words spoken to him and he clapped a reassuring hand on his shoulder, but his attention was elsewhere now that he heard the approach of a helicopter.

John looked up to see it flying low towards him. The helicopter slowed to a crawl just a few feet in front of John. Those around him began to shield themselves from the wind kicking up around them from the chopping blades. John peered up at the cockpit confused –there was nowhere for it to land here. Nothing but bodies and fallen machines were here.

Instead of landing, the helicopter slowly spun in the air so that the opened side now faced John. A grinning Simon greeted John with an inaudible yell and fist thrust in the air in victory. His enthusiasm was contagious. Survivors around them raised their guns and hands in the air and yelled back at the hovering helicopter.

The moment was not lost for John either, especially not when the cries of victory were drowned out by the figure of Kate ducking into view from the cockpit. John watched her grip the edge of the opened helicopter and pushed back her auburn hair as she looked for his face. She leaned out further for a better view and found him staring back at her just below. He rose to his feet and took a few steps towards her, careful not to stumble over the wounded. His eyes never left hers except to quickly study her body –she had lost weight, which concerned him, and her hair was much longer. Inwardly, he smiled at her struggling to keep long locks of her bangs from blowing in front of her eyes and face.

He had allowed himself to push the image of her in the back of his mind, away from what was going on since she was so far away from him these last few months. He regretted doing that now. She seemed changed as she stood half-hazardly on the edge of a hovering helicopter. There was confidence in her posture that he had never seen before. Though John had always felt they were equals, he could see she now knew she was his equal.

Their moment was ending: Inside the cockpit, Vince lifted the helicopter to join the Brew Team that was now a clear mile or two ahead. John stepped forward again, this time with an intense expression that Kate understood to be a desire that no distance become any greater between them. She wished she could comply, but like she had told Simon, she and John would have to wait another time.

John's figure shrank below her and she turned away to see the dead bodies of his men and the dark smoke billowing from fallen members of her aerial team. Kate might have wept at their loss months before. But she knew them, understood them as they understood her. She had her own look at these people at one time before and they back at her with a respect she now gave them in their resistance against Skynet.


	13. Chapter 13

**Title:** What's In A Name**  
Author:** gega cai**  
Pairings:** Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John**  
Rating:** PG**  
Words:** 2100+**  
Warnings:** Language, violence, and some gore in previous chapters.**  
Summary:** Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.**  
Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., John Brancato and Michael Ferris (?)**  
Author's Note:** This fic references some events from T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

**What's In A Name**

**Part 13**

by gega cai

The day had been eventful. The evening before, it was shared that John Connor and his team were finally arriving at Montana. The base suddenly found itself busied for their arrival. Apart from the news from John, there had been a small Skynet defeat in Southern California. Morale was high. Kate was anxious.

It was late in the evening when John and his team made it to Montana. The whole base was awake to greet them. Kate was careful not to draw attention to herself among the crowd gathering around John and his team as they entered the main large hanger on their way for debriefing. They were greeted by a quiet murmur of respectful voices remarking their appreciation at their arrival and others speaking to John directly as he passed them by up-close. Hands outstretched from the crowd into the opening around John to pat him on his back and arms. They all wanted to touch a piece of him and what he represented now. Kate watched it all from some distance away so that John could not recognize her face. She knew that these people and their desire to see John Connor would come first before their reunion. This understanding was not a burden for her to accept; Kate would not have it any other way. Their relationship was much greater than either of them probably would ever understand. Together, they would be the drive for the human resistance to defeat Skynet and, hopefully, become a better humanity because of their collective victory.

John nodded and gripped the hands that found their way into his own. Despite the symbolic scene that was happening before him, his face did not show how it all may have been affecting him. Instead, his face was solemn and fixed in a neutral expression that read he was a leader and that what they were sacrificing would not be in vain: John Connor was in control.

The scene continued on until John finally separated from his team and the crowd to follow a corridor down to Montana's headquarters. Kate, still unseen by John, stopped a few feet behind him and watched him go on ahead and disappear behind a bend in the corridor. She was unsure why she felt nervous to see him again. The anticipation felt new compared to all the other times they had been separated.

It was a few moments later that Kate managed to squeeze into the command room. Nearly anyone with some rank in Montana and in John's team had piled into the room to hear what was going to be said. Something of interest must have just been said; Kate easily made her way to the middle of the room without being noticed while voices rose and people made gestures in response. She paused between two tall figures to see John a few feet away sitting on a table top, one booted foot set up in a chair in front of him with an arm propped up on it and the other foot swinging above the ground. He seemed calm and nearly bored at all the commotion around him. Undoubtedly, he knew what their response would be to his news. Now, he sat before them and patiently allowed them all to hear him out even if Kate could see he was ready for action.

Still, the voices continued: one side of the room opposed and the other in agreement with a few voices undecided or speaking among themselves with interest. Then, all at once, they were silent when John's voice finally spoke to them all: "Soon Skynet will ready itself against what we've become so far. California is ready. My team is ready-" he stopped. Something caught his attention.

Kate stepped into view and their eyes met. The room watched them and there was a collective realization that this must be their first time seeing each other so close since their campaigns had begun months ago. Among the crowd in the room, Simon smiled at his commanders sharing the same space after being parted for so long. Kate gave a curt nod and John nodded in return and continued, "Kate is ready."

Few more seemed persuaded. A voice called out from the back of the room behind others, "You haven't told us what is really going on, Connor. Guns and vehicles –we get that, but you're not telling us everything. What the hell are you driving us into?"

Voices grew again and Kate took them as a cue to leave without explanation.

John would understand, she was sure he would. Their reunion would be soon and they deserved each other's company exclusively. So much had been left unsaid; they deserved a private conversation. She would be selfish in giving him time to sort their affairs with Montana. They would not be rushed away from each other to some other meeting or waiting conversation that had to be addressed. No, they would be able to reconnect like they should be able to … like any close friends should.

* * *

"Where've you been?" Vince asked as he shot up from a bench in Montana's mess hall. "Connor has been asking and looking for you all over the damn place."

"I needed some air," Kate replied walking past Vince. He followed behind her and was soon joined by Simon who had seen them both from another table across the room.

"He's got all the commanders looking pale as ghost. I think he's brought them some bad news," Vince said. He looked at Simon for confirmation.

"He's got the whole place on edge," Simon agreed.

"I'm sure it's not great news, then," Kate said. She stopped and turned to face them and saw they did not like her assumption. "I don't know what you were expecting me to say. This war is just beginning."

She left them standing together to think about what horrors John could have found and his plans for those horrors. She would know soon enough, but that was not on her mind now. She continued her way to her quarters, mindful to nod and greet others that passed her. The open respect of others in her presence would never be unwelcome, not after all the disdainful looks she met after Judgment Day.

Kate saw the door to her room was ajar. She knew _he_ was in there waiting for her.

When they survived Judgment Day and spent the following months surviving underground in Crystal Peak, there were times they would argue and disagree on what they should do next when they would leave or over simple decisions during their daily routine. Often, it was Kate that felt closed in and panic would settle into her mind over her situation. She took out her anger and frustration on the only person left in the world with her, someone she had no intentions of being caught up with in a military hole in the ground. She had blamed him. He was the one that came into her life that night and brought along with him the nightmare. Their voices would raise and echo through the walls and corridors of Crystal Peak –she remembered their voices clearly to this day. She felt ashamed every time, but it was so lonely, yet so crowded in that place. To share that place with one person day in and day out was difficult and it brought her to tears. No matter what she said during that time, he was always patient with her. He gave her the space she demanded and waited for her to eventually come around.

Kate always came around eventually.

Now, he was waiting for her again behind the door. Kate continued to wait outside festering with her nerves. She looked down at herself noting the dirt and grease on her uniform. _That's not so unusual_. She pushed back her sleeves and exposed her arms and wrists to herself. She turned her hands over and studied them. There was a time she had smooth skin and manicured fingers. All tale-tell signs of a healthy and spoiled person living in the 20th century. Now, she had callused hands and arms with tiny nicks and scars on the skin exposed to the life she lived now. She could not remember where they all came from anymore.

She did not understand herself suddenly. How could this all happen? If what that machine had told them was true, then why? _No, Kate_. The 'why' did not matter anymore, she thought. It was too late and too annoying to think about that now. She doubted John ever thought about why anything happened to him and his mother.

Then, another thought crossed her mind. The machine said they would be together. Kate Brewster would be the other half of John Connor's leadership. _I become his wife? We will have children together …_

Kate could not help herself and she smiled at the idea in amusement. The smile faded from her face when a realization crept into her mind: _I don't want to lose him_.

Voices from another room interrupted her thoughts and she stepped toward the door. Her heart began to beat hard in her chest as she pushed the door open and slipped inside her room. Inside, a small battery-operated lamp dimly lit the room. John stood beside the bed, his back facing Kate as she carefully shut the door behind her. She could read him so easily, even with his back to her. Still in his uniform under an open military jacket, he stood with his weight on one foot and his head down reading one of her textbooks in his hands. He flipped through it mindlessly trying to occupy himself while he waited on her to meet him. She could see his hair was longer on top than it was on his neck and she wondered who had cut it for him since she usually cut his hair.

Kate took a step forward and nervously placed a hand on the table top of her work space that was just along wall beside the door. The table must have made a sound. She did not catch it if it did; her attention was elsewhere. John whipped his head to the side at the sound and turned to face Kate.

John gently let the textbook slip from his fingers onto the bed without taking his eyes from Kate. He turned to face her completely and they stood the short distance apart for a few seconds. Finally, Kate moved first and stepped forward. He allowed her to come halfway toward him before rushing to embrace her. He was a blur and she reacted slowly to his hug. Kate felt his warmth all around her in his arms. She found the rest of her senses and returned his embrace with her arms around his chest. She dug her fingers into the fabric of his jacket in an involuntary gesture of gratitude to have him back, this time in her arms. "John," she said smiling into his shoulder.

John pushed a little distance between them to cup her face in his hands. He rubbed his thumb along her cheek and over her lips. Kate watched him through a long lock of her bangs that had fallen into her eyes. His expression was soft in eagerness. He studied her lips while his thumb hovered over them, careful not to overdo their affection. His eyes lifted from her mouth searching for hers to find them hidden behind wavy auburn hair. Gently, he pushed her hair back from her face. Their eyes met and she saw his hesitation but she gave him some encouragement: she looked at his lips and barely leaned in when his lips quickly met hers hungrily.

His kiss was ravenous for her. Yet, Kate could sense his control with her so not to scandalize his intentions. Her imagination played out on how he really wanted to be with her. She felt her feet lift from the ground and his arms squeeze around her to bring her impossibly closer to him. Their kiss became deeper. Their lips could barely keep up with their fervent need to taste and feel each other after being apart for so long. Finally, John's lips parted from hers and she lifted her head up to take a breath of air. She let out a short-winded "Mmph!" –her head hit something hard behind her.

Kate opened her eyes to see that John had carried her on to the wall beside the door. Kate smiled at his apparent passion and felt him dig his head into the bend of her neck. His lips pressed into her skin and warmed it with each exhale.

John spoke into the collar of her shirt, "I would have waited another five years for that kiss." He mumbled something else between light kisses he managed to nuzzle under her shirt on her collarbone –something about it "being worth the wait".

Kate lifted his chin and looked him in his eyes and nodded. It was all worth it.


	14. Chapter 14

**Title:** What's In A Name**  
Author:** gega cai**  
Pairings:** Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John**  
Rating:** PG**  
Words:** 2300+**  
Warnings:** Language, violence, and some gore in previous chapters.**  
Summary:** Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.

**Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., John Brancato and Michael Ferris (?)

**Author's Note:** This fic references some events from T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

**What's In A Name  
Part 14**

by gega cai

A warm tingle of comfort stirred Kate awake from a deep sleep. She enjoyed the last prickling feeling of security and comfort radiating from the center of her body to the tips of her fingers and toes. Though her mind was between deep sleep and awake, she understood the feeling was fleeting, especially when she rediscovered the discomfort of sleeping in her clothes. Then, her eyes blinked open wide and she remembered where, no, _when_ she was; she wasn't in the past or a future she often fantasized about. She was in present time in a world that did not seem to want people. Endangered. It had been a long time since she had slept so well, but as her mind let go of its dream and accepted the encroaching reality of the present, she remembered why she must have slept so well.

The dimly lit room slowly came into focus. Sleeping soundly behind her was John, who had laid himself snug against her. One arm was draped across hers, holding her forearm close to her chest with his fingers' weakened grip around her wrist. She could feel his face buried into the shirt on her shoulder blade. His rhythmic, hot breath seeped into her shirt and tickled her skin. She remembered his tight squeeze around her as they settled to fall asleep with each other. She had smiled and the last thing she thought of was how she didn't feel so endangered with him near again.

Now, Kate's thoughts were solemn and reflective on what he must have in store for them. His arrival had been overdue, but their reunion was expected. John had them all working towards something much bigger.

Kate remained still so not to wake John. If he was sleeping as soundly as she had been, she was sure it was the first time in years and he deserved some peace. She thought of the first week they had spent down in Crystal Peak after Judgment Day when someone knocked on her door. She felt John jerk awake and reach for the rifle behind her between the head of the bed and the wall. The door swung open to show an excited Simon step in with Vince right behind him. Kate rose onto her elbow and John sat up behind her, above her head to face the door as Simon and Vince stopped in their step at the sight of John in Kate's bed. Simon's eyes grew and he tried his best to suppress a smile at their catch.

"Uh, I guess it could have waited after all," Simon said. He stepped back and closed the door, leaving Kate and John alone again.

Kate slumped back onto their shared thin pillow. She sensed John still tense and placed a hand on his chest in an effort to calm him. He looked down at her hand and placed his free hand on top of hers. He took in a deep breath and she imagined him letting go of the rifle behind her head with the supposed threat gone.

"Looks like you're expected out there," he said. He smiled and brought his hand from behind her to rest his head on it, never letting go of her hand in his other.

"Hm," she replied softly. She stared at his hand over hers on his chest. It was nice. It was all too nice –possibly momentarily. A seed of fear settled into her mind at the idea of losing it.

"Katie?"

"Hm? Oh," she looked up at him. He could see she was elsewhere in her mind. "Sorry. I –I was thinking about Crystal Peak."

John's eyes fell from hers to the hem of her shirt's collar. He lifted her hand from his chest and curled her fingers onto his lips. He never spoke about Crystal Peak or their time there together. Kate knew he probably did not want to talk about it because there was little to talk about. That and probably because she had been so depressed and angry during that time and he did not want to remind her. He remained silent, but raised an eyebrow in interest.

"It's okay to talk about it, you know. They're not great memories but –"

"No…" he said into her fingers.

She could see the regret hiding behind his eyes. Regret that he couldn't make her time with him more bearable? Regret that Judgment Day happened at all? It was all those things, Kate was sure. He was capable of great things, but some things were out of his control and he had accepted that. Maybe that was what he regretted: his acceptance of everything that happens and his ability to move on and learn and do better. Kate could see that now. It was difficult to see it then. Her mind was clouded with emotions. Not that John was unfeeling –no, he could just turn his emotions off when needed.

"I was an emotional wreck, grieving for everything lost … for everything I'd lost," Kate said. "We were both festering in that damn place, John. Waiting around with our knowledge and the guilt," she took in a deep breath.

"We didn't do anything wrong, John," she continued. "Our parents passed on to us this thing –this _future_! We'll do what we can to make it right…"

"Kate…"

Her eyes stung with tears and she sat up in the bed to avoid his gaze now. John followed, but stayed back behind her. She could feel him watching the back of her wanting to hold her.

"He was a good man," her voice shook. She lowered her head and fought her sobbing. Ignoring his usual instinct, he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed.

"Yes, he was," John said softly into her hair. Kate turned to face him and looked into his eyes. John knew better than anyone else would. Though Sarah Connor did not have the official titles or medals to boast what she had done in her own battles against the enemy, she was a good woman that was misunderstood and mislabeled. Kate's father shared the same misunderstanding. _He was a good man._

She shrugged at her lapse in composure and dismissed it, "They'll always think of him as a reason or the fault of it all."

"Imagine what they'd think if they knew _I_ knew it would all happen and that I never changed it. We all have regrets. All of them wish they could change things. It's just easier to place the blame on others," he said. He lifted a finger under her chin and traced the line of her jaw. His eyes left her gaze and studied her lips as he continued, "We'll just help them to understand and to place the blame on the real enemy."

He smoothed the back of his fingers under her jaw and across her neck. Kate nodded gently at his plan.

* * *

Kate followed John down a corridor to Montana's general mess hall. Kate could hear the distant but distinct sound of heavy rain falling on the base outside. Before, rain was an inconvenience. It meant a day indoors on an unfortunate vacation or being stuck in traffic for hours after a nasty collision on the freeway. These days after Judgment Day made rain welcomed. There is no such thing as a vacation. There is no traffic. Rain affected Skynet's visibility and mobility. Bad weather was good for a few moments of relief.

Outwardly, Kate and John appeared confident and emotionally distant as comrades as they made their way to the mess hall. Others could see the commanding presence they held. The years they lived and survived alongside each other made them something like opposites of a same coin. The way they fought, planned, and spoke in each others company was unusual compared to how other survivors related to each other. It was rare for any two people to make it so far. Death was certain. Their history and current success rate preceded them now.

Despite the comforting rain, they remained alert. Habits and John's mindset were hard to shake.

John entered the mess hall and crossed to the nearest table where a few of his team sat at finishing their small breakfast. Instead of following John, Kate went straight for the dogs guarding the main exit. She ignored the figure of Simon standing at the sight of her march by. The dogs knew her scent before she even saw them and their tags wagged eagerly as she approached. She kneeled down to greet them both with friendly scratches to their neck and ears.

"Keeping everyone alright, huh?" Kate asked in a friendly tone. She pulled away and mocked reaching into her cargo pocket. The dogs licked their lips and suddenly sat still (only their tails wagging in anticipation). Kate smiled and, as expected, she dug into her pocket and removed two big bites of rabbit jerky. She paused for a beat to watch them sit as still as long as they possibly could before letting them take the jerky from her.

"Mornin', Brewster," their handler said.

"Mornin', Ferguson," she said. She rose to her feet and gave him a curt nod of respect. He treated the dogs well and they were the best trained she'd ever seen since before …

"Brewster!"

Kate turned to see Vince wave her over to the table he and Simon sat eating. She made her way over and joined them. Simon did his best to not smile so openly.

A familiar hand suddenly appeared in front of her and presented a ration of breakfast. Accepting the food, Kate followed the arm up to see it was John's. He took his seat beside her and laid his own ration in front of him. He pushed his sleeves back and nodded to Vince and Simon, which greatly honored the latter. Kate and John began to eat their ration quickly: Montana awaited news of John's plan.

Being studied while eating can kill an appetite, which was a feeble danger Kate was not interested in this morning. Kate looked up from her bite to face the studious onlooker: Simon's anticipation was kind of endearing. Vince, of course, was indifferent. John Connor would hear of the day's gossip in due time, Vince was sure. Kate decided Simon should have the pleasure to speak with John as he had fought so hard under her command –even if it were in patience to receive orders from him. Kate caught John's attention and looked over at Simon. The corner of John's mouth lifted and he turned to face Simon.

"Did I miss much?" John asked.

Simon paused, unsure if he was being spoken to. "Sir, no sir! I mean, objectives accomplished … sir."

"Now the real fun can begin," John said to his food as he stabbed at it. Simon nodded emphatically, purposely ignoring the ominous tone.

* * *

"So, your plan is to turn everything we fought for over to the generals. To L.A.? –John, they have no idea what they are doing," Kate said. Other team leaders and Montana commanders nodded in agreement.

John, who stood alone at one end of Montana's command room, faced the doubting faces staring back at him.

"No, they don't know a damn thing. That's the problem. The heart of Skynet is there. The resistance there must grow if we have any hope of defeating it. They need what we have. The battles we've won here will mean nothing if we keep to ourselves and do not offer a hand to those that are dying off in vain," he replied.

"How do you know Skynet is centralized in L.A.?" a voice called out.

Another voice spoke before anyone could allow their thoughts to wrap around the fact that John Connor could know Skynet's central location. Then another voice spoke. Finally, a louder voice boomed over them all: "What about Montana?"

"Don't worry about Montana. They are only second to the L.A. resistance in numbers. Montana will take care of its own," John said with a knowing smirk. His answer seemed to rouse the leaders to warm up to his agenda. They didn't like it, but L.A. would not be able to deny that it was the outsiders, the dusty Western deserters that came back with big guns.

Kate pushed back her hair from her face in an open gesture of relief that John's plan could be trusted or, at the very least, carried out with little opposition now. John was right but it was hard to see the significance now. Los Angeles would not become the _future terror_ of man versus machine that John had explained to her it would become for at least another decade. That foundation was being built now for its resistance, apparently.

A top ranking commander for Montana spoke, "Settled then? All right. John, you have your team. Who will command Montana to help transport the goods to L.A.?"

Kate looked around to gauge who everyone was looking to for a proposed commander but found that most eyes had fallen on her. Suddenly flattered and humbled by the apparent decision in their faces, Kate looked to John for a helpful hint on what to do or say. Instead, he gave her his knowing smirk and a small shrug as if to say, "Of course they want you."

"All in favor of Brewster's command?" the ranking commander asked the room. The majority of the room called back in favor.

Inwardly, Kate swelled with pride. Not for herself, but for her father (and his name). Another Brewster was in command and it was a commander they trusted to follow.


	15. Epilogue

**Title:** What's In A Name**  
Author:** gega cai**  
Pairings:** Kate Brewster centric, eventual Kate/John**  
Rating:** PG**  
Words:** 800+**  
Warnings:** Language, violence, and some gore in previous chapters.**  
Summary:** Judgment Day has come and gone. Kate Brewster struggles to find her new identity and purpose in a post-apocalyptic world.**  
Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., John Brancato and Michael Ferris (?)

**Author's Note:** This fic references some events from T3 and T Salvation. Fic takes place in 2009, five years after Judgment Day according to T3 (July 2004).

The epilogue takes place in 2016, before the fourth film and references events that took place in the interquel tie-in game for the Terminator Salvation film.

**What's In A Name**

**EPILOGUE**

by gega cai

**Los Angeles, Human Resistance Camp – 2016**

The two radar operators watched the screen intently as an aircraft bleeped its way onto their map. The higher ranking operator quickly radioed a resistance signal and waited. A short moment later they received their reply: _Friendly aircraft –permission to land?_

The ranking operator beamed as the aircraft's request was repeated in their earsets.

"That's gotta be him. Radio Connor and inform her that _the last_ of the away team is incoming."

* * *

John sat on a table top on an elevated platform in a large hangar. His legs extended to the ground and crossed at his ankles. It was an unusual sight to see John Connor relaxed and casual. But, this was a brief self allowance of celebration. He watched his new comrade, Barnes, take in what the L.A. resistance had to offer.

Barnes looked back at John over his shoulder with eyebrows raised in appreciation, "Hey, this might work, man. You all seem real genuine in this offense business."

John nodded and dug the heel of his palms into the table top to lift his weight onto his feet. He crossed to the railing and looked out over the aircraft. "It's good you came here, Barnes. The resistance needs you. They'll know all about what you did for Weston's men and at that Skynet compound. It was an honor to fight along side you."

"You're the hero. But, I don't have a problem being in the resistance if there are more people in it like us," Barnes said.

"They'll be more like you with you to inspire them," John said simply. Again, he looked out at the aircraft in silent reflection. Then, he caught sight of something enter the hangar and he stood straight, seemingly in a trance at the sound of echoing footsteps coming closer to the platform.

Barnes, taken aback by Connor's sudden change in body language, mimicked his stance and followed his stare at the two figures approaching the platform's stairs. The first to reach the top was an older man, maybe late 40's but he looked near 60 with dark hair flecked with grey strands peaking under his cap. His face was badly scarred. One deep scar ran down the outside of his left cheek, below his jaw and further down his neck somewhere past the hem of his undershirt. The man was undoubtedly someone of authority.

Behind him followed a woman. Her face was fair and her features amazingly untouched by war. Yet, the mind and soul peering out at him from her eyes, however, were not. She was fit, like most women were now. Barnes could not help to notice she was attractive, her auburn hair made it even more difficult not to notice her singular appearance. She gave Barnes a quick glance over but he could see Connor was her main interest after her eyes darted to him. He saw it then: a moment of recognition, something beyond a meeting of soldiers. First it shown in her face and then in John's –but it was gone before Barnes could place it.

"Good work, Connor. Saving Weston's team and taking down a Skynet base with minimum casualties is no small feat, no matter how easy you make it seem," the man said.

"Thank you, sir. Barnes here, and Blair Williams were also responsible for bringing Weston and his team back to camp," John said.

The man nodded to Barnes, who nodded back. Barnes looked at the woman, waiting to hear what she had to say. Instead, she looked down at the floor between them with her hands clasped behind her. Her expression seemed playfully blank as if she was not impressed.

"I've been informed that you passed medical check. I expect a full report tomorrow. Good day gentleman," the man nodded. He turned to the woman and tipped his cap, "See you in a few, Kate." With that, he descended the stairs and walked away. His footsteps echoed as Barnes waited awkwardly by Connor and Kate.

"Well," she finally spoke, "it certainly is no big feat in taking off without a team into an active Skynet compound …" Kate stepped forward towards Connor and unclasped her hands to hang beside her. Her head tilted slightly, her eyes staring into Connor's.

Barnes could see it again now.

Connor was doing his best to keep himself under control. He stiffened and even lifted his chin slightly to look down his nose at her. Their nonverbal conversation was playing out right in front of Barnes and he fought to suppress a chuckle.

"Kate? Kate, isn't it? Hi. I'm Barnes," he extended his hand.

She released her gaze on Connor and took his hand. "Thank you, Barnes. Thank you for getting John out of there and for coming here to join the resistance. _It means a lot._" The last sentence was spoken softly and it nearly made Barnes blush at her sincerity.

A static sound interrupted them. It came from Kate's earpiece. She excused herself and descended the platform leaving Connor and Barnes alone again. John crossed to the railing again and watched Kate until she disappeared around the corner of the hangar towards the resistance's underground camp.

"Friend of yours?" Barnes asked. John Connor smiled and dropped his head in amusement.

"You just met my better half, Barnes," John said looking up at him.


End file.
